After last nights hardsell on trade and this mornings soft dazzle of charisma on a Mumbai campus,US President Barack Obama arrived here looking to add political and strategic heft to his India visit. Its a visit that,so far,has gone as per Washingtons script and New Delhi hopes that script will be fine-tuned before Obama addresses both Houses of Parliament tomorrow. Obama had a private meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday evening and many here see his Parliament speech as one that will chart his vision for India and the United States in the world and in the region going beyond what he has said in his public appearances in India so far. The joint statement,technically still under negotiations,is so far not clear on US support to Indias candidature for the permanent membership of the UN Security Council. New Delhi has continued to press Washington for a clear endorsement and the hope is that even if the joint statement were to fall short of expectations on this front,Obama will use more forward-looking language in his speech at Parliaments Central Hall. The joint statement has,however,two references to Pakistan in the context of terror. It will call for dismantling of the infrastructure of terrorism in Pakistan as well as terror groups like the Lashkar-e-Toiba. The two sides will also agree on doing joint development projects in Afghanistan besides in Africa. Both countries are also slated to announce a dialogue on the Asia-Pacific,which will expand current consultations to include East Asia,West Asia and Central Asia. This,sources said,is being seen as a signal to China that US considers India as a key power in the Asia-Pacific region. Closer consultation on each sub-region of Asia could open up a range of possibilities in the long run,added officials. Apart from counterterrorism and Indias role in East Asia,the other main bilateral issue is removal of Indian entities from the list of entities to which US companies cannot export dual-use technology unless cleared on a case-to-case basis by the US government. There is unlikely to be any specific mention of entities in the joint statement but Obama is expected to elaborate the US position on this. While US will commit to liberalizing the rules of high technology trade,there is no clarity on the entities because Washington has not agreed yet to removal of Department of Atomic Energy entities from the list unless New Delhi agrees to certain additional end-use verification procedures. The government,however,did not accept this condition. The US has indicated that it is willing remove entities belonging to ISRO and DRDO as well as the Bharat Dynamics Ltd but needs more assurances for DAE entities. It may be noted that US has expressed concerns over the nuclear liabilities legislation that has implications for the supplier in case of a nuclear incident. While the joint statement is likely to welcome India signing the Convention Supplementary Compensation at the IAEA,the US companies remain far from assuaged on this front. On the economic front,both sides will reaffirm that they will not let protectionist approaches define the economic relationship between both countries. In this context,Obama and Singh will discuss US concerns over the Yuan exchange rate and the standing proposal before the G-20 Finance Ministers to monitor exchange and reach an understanding on safeguards against such practice. While there has been no consensus on it,the conversation would be significant as the two leaders head to South Korea next week for the G-20 Summit where US is likely to raise this issue again. Meanwhile,both sides have agreed to launch an international centre for nuclear energy security in India. The agreement has been in the works since the concept of the centre was floated by India in April this year at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington and the two sides are expected to finalise it during Obamas visit. With India keen to contribute to nuclear security even though it is not a signatory to the Non Proliferation Treaty,New Delhi is looking at the new centre as a positive step in working towards safeguarding nuclear material. India is likely to fully fund the centre that will examine best practices from around the world to come up with an own set of guidelines and standards to ensure safety of nuclear material.
