IS HE JUST INEPT...

Indian officials wary after perceived White House slights: Concerns arise days before Prime Minister Singh makes first state visit (John Pomfret, 11/21/09, Washington Post)

Indian officials note that in a speech on U.S. relations in Asia, Obama did not mention India. Although the speech, delivered in Tokyo, focused on the Asia-Pacific region and not South Asia, Indian officials and analysts said they were concerned that Obama did not recognize India's broader regional aspirations -- something that the Bush administration had encouraged.

Indian officials have also raised concerns that in a joint statement issued by the United States and China on Tuesday, Obama appeared to open the door for Beijing to act as a mediator of sorts in the long-term rivalry between India and Pakistan. China and the United States, the statement said, "are ready to strengthen communication, dialogue and cooperation on issues related to South Asia and work together to promote peace, stability and development in that region."

Since the early 1960s, when China and India fought a border war, China has maintained close ties with Pakistan and, according to a recent Washington Post report, is even said to have supplied Islamabad with a blueprint for a nuclear device and the raw materials to explode one.

Vishnu Prakash, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry in New Delhi, said in response to the joint statement that "a third-country role cannot be envisaged nor is it necessary" to solve the troubles between India and Pakistan. "Obama's China (credit) card casts shadow on PM's US visit," read a headline in the influential Times of India, referring to the $800 billion in U.S. Treasury securities held by China.

...or does he really favor the totalitarian dictatorship over the Anglospheric democracy?

Posted by Orrin Judd at November 20, 2009 10:07 PM