Posted on 11/08/2010 2:54:12 PM PST by DBCJR
If there were clouds of scepticism hovering over the Obama visit as the "what's in it for us" question grew louder, the US president dispersed them on Monday by endorsing India's bid for a permanent UN Security Council seat and slamming Pakistan for promoting terror havens on its soil.
"I can say today -- in years ahead, I look forward to a reformed UN Security Council that includes India as a permanent member", Barack Obama said in his address to Parliament in an emphatic endorsement of India's bid for a UNSC seat.
On Pakistan, the US president ended the ambiguity on Islamabad's use of terror against India that had marked his India tour so far. "We will continue to insist with Pakistan's leaders that terrorist safe havens within their borders are unacceptable and that the terrorists behind the Mumbai attacks be brought to justice," he said.
While the UNSC promise may take a while to materialise, the audience in Parliament's Central Hall erupted in spontaneous celebration. They immediately recognised it as the defining moment of his visit. The tough words on Pakistan drew similar applause.
Add to these the decision to lift controls on transfer of technology, the promise to help India join other crucial groups like the Nuclear Suppliers' Group, Missile Technology Control Regime and, the tone of a "partnership between equals", and the visit marks another milestone in Indo-US ties.
Clearly, Obama had reserved his best for last. In his address to MPs, in which he gave a glimpse of his ortatorial prowess, he silenced doubters wondering if America's India affair that began under Bill Clinton at the turn of the last millennium and flowered under George W Bush, was flagging.
Posing the question "what's the next step" in India-US ties. Obama provided some of the answers, outlining a "global partnership for global challenges". He stressed that the US will not merely cheer India's rise from the sidelines but will stand "shoulder-to-shoulder".
From the moment he entered the central hall around 5.28pm to his slow paced exit, Obama received no less than 36 rounds of applause. But none resounded more loudly and longer than when he expressed US support to India's ambition of a place at the UN high table.
Having twice on Monday pointed to the significance of making his India visit the longest in his presidency and also underlining that he was doing so early in his term, Obama outlined his vision for a partnership that seems to be breaking new ground on contentious issues like nuclear non-proliferation that separated the two nations for decades.
There remain points of divergence on trade and other issues and Obama chose the occasion to speak "frankly" about India's reluctance to stand up on issues like democracy in Myanmar where New Delhi has adopted an increasingly pragmatic approach. The criticism read like a reminder that with great power aspirations come responsibilities that all those who want to be part of the new UNSC have to be mindful about.
The Indian response was obviously welcoming even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the joint press conferenc earlier in the day made it plain that while India was not scared of discussing the "K-word", it could not be expected to hold talks so long as Pakistan did not move away from "terror-induced coercion" to dismantle the terror machine operating from its soil.
Singh's tough talk came just after Obama had, for the second time in his visit, stressed that India and Pakistan needed to reduce tensions and resolve their disputes.
Singh was uncharacteristically bold also when he rebuted the entrenched perception in the US that outsourcing meant jobs lost in America. "India is not in the business of stealing jobs from the United States of America," he said and added that he saw American investment as essential in India's bid to pull millions out of poverty. Infrastructure and hi-tech were the keys that US investment could provide.
But Singh's was hardly a jarring note. Like Obama, he swore by the need for the two democracies to work together.
Together they outtlined the scope of the clasp that US and India have entered into and how it was truely a win-win situation. While the PM described Obama as a sincere friend, and Obama returned the compliment by speaking of Singh's economic vision, the agreements in furthering defence, civil nuclear energy, agriculture, weather forecasting, a new "evergreen" revolution, health and clean energy speak of the increased momentum in ties.
Whatever, this is sheer stupidity. What do we have to gain from this?
Personally I’d like to see India on the Security Council, but China would never allow it and Obama knows it. More empty words from our fearless leader.
Changing the makeup of the permanent Security Council would take more horse-trading than anybody can imagine.
India should have a seat. That does not mean more seats need to be created.
He’s ticked off Japan and Brazil, too, both of which at times have lobbied for a seat. I think Germany has too, and frankly would be a more appropriate choice than France.
Isn't it strange how he doesn't see how investment and technology are keys to pulling Americans out of poverty?
“What do we have to gain from this?”
A friend in the IO and a counter to China.
tough words? I guess just using the word "terrorist" raises zer0 to a new level of tough in some newswriters eyes.
Promoting his tool-of-the-antichrist agenda, perhaps?
Let’s give INDIA a seat: OUR SEAT!
>>> “I can say today — in years ahead, I look forward to a reformed UN Security Council that includes India as a permanent member”,
Vague platitude thrown out as an applause line, but without meaning. “Looking forward” is not a commitment by the US to MAKE this happen, nor does it even hint at how this process would be made to occur.
Standard Obama. Empty talk is a glittery wrapping that sounds thrilling if its what you wanted to hear anyway.
Umm, Obama is not the first US president to express support for an UNSC seat for India and won’t be the last.
Secondly India, Germany, Japan and Brazil have campaigned as a bloc to get themselves seats on the council.
This is not about whether India should have a permanent seat on the Security Council. This is about this POTUS choosing this time to make the announcement, at a point where he is courting cooperation from Pakistan and right before he goes to ask China for economic favors.
Nothing the POTUS said was unexpected or pathbreaking-it was just a repeat of the same old lines, albeit in the Indian parliament. About how the Pakis and Chicoms see it, they know very well that realistic UNSC reform won’t happen anytime soon.
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