India, US not there yet but getting close, says Saran

The key changes in this shift in India’s relations with America, Raja Mohan later pointed out, have taken place over last year.

‘‘Our policy for a long time will be determined by this past year, and if we sign a treaty with the Americans, then it is a very good thing. The global power structure has not changed for a very long time — in a sense this is a historic moment … an exciting time, and we have a role to play in the international order, which will come about from these days.”

Noted analyst and chairman of the government task force on global strategic developments K. Subrahmanyam added that the Indian elite is still gripped by a Cold War-era ‘‘hangover.’’

Chairing the discussion, The Indian Express Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta said that the sharp divide in the foreign policy debates augurs well. For, it shows a movement away from the traditional diplomacy-by-consensus, which is more akin to “trench warfare.”

‘‘This is a good sign. Now our foreign policy is not just the decision of a few but a more democratic and dynamic thing, which should benefit India.”