Manmohan and Obama will discuss Af-Pak strain in Indo-US ties

Besides Pakistan,a perennial theme in Indo-US relations,the Afghan situation too will come up for discussion. The deteriorating relations between Obama and the Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Delhis review of its Afghan policy after the recent attacks on the Indian medical missions in Kabul are also expected to figure prominently in the talks.

When Obama received Singh as the first state guest at the White House last November,the two leaders did have an expansive conversation on Pakistan and how it affects regional stability and the bilateral relationship between Delhi and Washington.

While Obama appreciated the PMs courageous efforts at promoting a peace process with Pakistan,he had conveyed the US hope for renewed engagement and reconciliation between the two nations. Singh,in turn,had underlined Indias exceptional restraint in the face of provocations from the Pakistan Army.

Since then,much has transpired in the US policy towards the subcontinent. Obama had announced a military surge in Afghanistan in December,elevated the strategic dialogue with Pakistan,and signaled a readiness to engage with moderate elements of the Pashtun and Taliban resistance.

Some of Pakistans expectations from the recently concluded strategic dialogue like a civil nuclear deal of the kind India has won from Obamas predecessor George W. Bush turned out to be exaggerated.

The US also publicly turned down the Pakistani appeal for mediation between Delhi and Islamabad. The Obama Administration had also kept the UPA government informed on the outcomes of the dialogue with Pakistan.

The problem between Delhi and Washington is not about the lack of diplomatic communication. It is about the real possibility that the logic of Obamas Af-Pak policy and Indias own regional imperatives could begin to diverge.

For there is no denying the growing importance of the Pakistan Army for the success of Obamas Afghan policy. Nor can any one doubt that Rawalpindi would want to leverage the US dependence on it against India.

Pressures are said to be mounting on Obama to ask India to do more with Pakistan. Until recently,sources say,the President has resisted calls from within the Administration to put pressure on India. If Washington is drawn too close to the Pak Army and away from Karzai,Delhi might have no option but to redo its regional sums and review

its relations with Iran that borders both Pakistan and Afghanistan.

This could,in turn,complicate Indias engagement with the United States at a time when Obama is working hard get the United Nations Security Council impose a new round of sanctions against Iran.

Both Delhi and Washington,sources say,recognise the dangers from an unintended destabilisation of Indo-US ties and would want to prevent such an outcome.