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INDIA’S ASIA

C. Raja Mohan

Indian Express, November 25, 2009

As Delhi’s protestations against Washington’s presumed ‘China-first’ strategy get amplified by the American media, the Indo-US joint statement to be issued at the end of the meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Barack Obama offers an opportunity to finesse the issues.

If the Beijing communiqué put out last week in Beijing by Obama and President Hu Jintao had gone too far in emphasising Sino-US cooperation in South Asia, one way of compensating for it would be to highlight the current and future Indian contributions to Asia-Pacific security.

On his part the PM underlined India’s perceptions of the region in his address to the Council on Foreign Relations on Monday.

Referring to the dramatic geopolitical and economic shifts unfolding in Asia, Dr. Singh declared that Delhi and Washington must “work together with other countries in the region to create an open and inclusive regional architecture in the Asia-Pacific”.

This short formulation covers all the bases. His emphasis on power shift refers to the rise of China, and underlines theimportance of cooperation with Beijing.

“We have tried to engage China and they are one of our major trading partners. We have border disputes we are trying to solve that and both have agreed that while that is pending we should keep the peace,” the PM said.

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