To strengthen bonds,top Obama officials line up for India

This is an important month for Obama’s Asia policy as he looks to engage all big powers of the region. Having struck the right chords with major European powers,the Obama brand of multilateralism that seems to work on the principle of first hammering out an understanding among all major stakeholders,is all set to focus on Asia now.

While Singh will have the honour of being the first state guest of his Administration on November 24,Obama will be meeting him only after completing a weeklong tour of East Asia. This trip from November 12 to 18 covers Japan,China,Singapore and South Korea.

As all major economies look to step out of the economic crisis that overshadowed every other item on Obama’s agenda,sources said the US President is now keen on nudging important Asian countries on reaching an agreement on taking forward his efforts on trade,climate change and disarmament.

In this context,India is being seen as a “special partner”. So,US Trade Representative Ron Kirk has been to New Delhi twice already in two months as India sought to take the lead on breaking the deadlock on the Doha talks. Both sides are discussing bilateral agreements on trades and services too.

Soon,Energy Secretary Chu will be here and so will be US Under Secretary of State for Disarmament Ellen Tauscher. While Chu is the one pushing for clean energy options and is behind the US shift on climate change,Tauscher is a former Democrat Congresswoman who was against the Indo-US nuclear deal. Both will be here next week.

Another high-profile visitor reaching here on Thursday will be Under Secretary of Defence Michele Flournoy for a meeting of the Indo-US Defence Policy Group. The group will receive a presentation on maritime and coastal security. With India looking to dish out major defence contracts in the coming year,sources said,the result of this conversation is bound to impact on other areas in the relationship. Also,two defence agreements,the Logistics Support Agreement and the CISMOA,a Communications and Information Security Agreement,are pending on the Indian side.

It is learnt that India and US are also looking to work on a joint green initiative that will include partnerships in technology,environment and non-renewable energy. The other highlight is the education sector for which HRD Minister Kapil Sibal was recently in the US.

On the disarmament front,the Obama Administration has revived efforts on multilateral agreements like the CTBT and the FMCT besides showing renewed commitment to the Non-Proliferation Treaty which comes up for review next year. Obama is also planning to hold a disarmament summit in the US. Recently,Washington also signalled a slight shift in its position by agreeing to hold discussions on an international Arms Trade Treaty. Tauscher’s discussions will cover all these critical areas.

From an Indian standpoint,New Delhi will be keen on wrapping up talks on agreement for reprocessing US-origin nuclear fuel that was a commitment under the 123 Agreement. Both sides have held two rounds of talks and are looking to conclude it this month before the PM travels to Washington. Besides this,there is the Commercial Space Launch Agreement,which both sides have still not concluded.