Obama’s visit to India

Obama’s visit to India mainly to strengthen ties between US and India.President Obama’s visit to India this weekend comes in the wake of major losses for his party in the U.S. mid-term elections. The results largely viewed as an indictment of Obama’s handling of the economy, record deficit spending, and health care reform could lead the U.S. President to tread cautiously during his India visit. President Obama may be tempted to limit his message to one that focuses on India as a destination for U.S. exports and highlights U.S.–India business collaboration. While these are indeed important issues, President Obama should also emphasize the broader significance of the U.S.–India strategic partnership in strengthening democratic forces and balancing China’s rise in East Asia.Defense ties between the U.S. and India have expanded rapidly since the 2005 signing of the 10-year defense framework agreement. The two sides have held an unprecedented number of regular joint exercises across all services at increasing levels of complexity and including multilateral exercises like the Malabar naval exercise in 2009 that included Japanese participation.Obama’s visit offers an opportunity to solidify additional defense deals. U.S. defense heavyweights Lockheed Martin and Boeing are both competing with French, Swedish, and Russian companies to fulfill India’s request for 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft—a deal worth over $10 billion.

Washington and New Delhi are also reportedly close to inking an agreement on the transfer of 10 C-17 Boeing transport aircraft worth close to $6 billion. The clinching of a major defense deal during the Obama visit would send a clear signal that the two sides are committed to enhancing strategic cooperation in a vital region of the world.President Obama will likely face tough questions on the counterterrorism front. Recent media reports raise questions about the U.S. handling of the case of David Headley, the Pakistani-American charged with facilitating the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Headley’s wives revealed that they provided information to U.S. officials as far back as 2005 on his links to Pakistan-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) and a series of suspicious trips to India. Indian officials note that the U.S. should have passed them this information on Headley earlier so they could have monitored his trips to India and potentially prevented the Mumbai attacks.President Obama has often adopted an overly simplistic approach toward U.S.–India trade and economic ties, focusing on India as an economic competitor to the U.S. During a speech on the campaign trail in July 2008, Obama noted that “children in Raleigh and Boston” are forced to compete with “children in Bangalore and Beijing.” In August, Obama signed a law raising U.S. visa fees for foreign workers in the information technology (IT) sector—a protectionist move directed against Indian IT companies that bring high-skilled labor into the U.S.President Obama’s visit to India this weekend comes in the wake of major losses for his party in the U.S. mid-term elections. The results—largely viewed as an indictment of Obama’s handling of the economy, record deficit spending, and health care reform—could lead the U.S. President to tread cautiously during his India visit. President Obama may be tempted to limit his message to one that focuses on India as a destination for U.S. exports and highlights U.S.–India business collaboration. While these are indeed important issues, President Obama should also emphasize the broader significance of the U.S.–India strategic partnership in strengthening democratic forces and balancing China’s rise in East Asia.The four day visit will showcase all aspects of Indo-US ties.