Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived in the U.S. over the weekend for a state visit that will see him hold talks with President Obama on issues such as the security situations in Afghanistan and Pakistan and the fight against climate change.
As
All Headline News reported, on Monday morning Mr Singh, Prime Minister of his country since 2004, was attending an event for which the joint hosts were the US Chamber of Commerce and the U.S.-India Business Council.
But it is the talks Mr Singh will hold with President Obama that will attract far greater attention as India's relationship with Pakistan, the latter country's resolve in defeating Islamic extremists, and the issue of climate change and what can be done by the U.S. and India to address it are discussed.
Mr Singh's visit also includes a black-tie dinner at the White House on Tuesday.
Before leaving India and heading for Washington Mr Singh, an economist who was the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India for two and a half years, emphasized how important his country's ties with the U.S. were and how they had matured in recent years. He noted:
A sustained and dynamic India-U.S. partnership is essential if we are to meet the global challenges of the 21st century. At the bilateral level, we look forward to building upon our Strategic Dialogue by adding greater substance to our cooperation in areas such as trade and investment, services, energy, science and technology, defense, high technology trade, education, agriculture and health
Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs in the U.S., Robert Blake, echoed the sentiments expressed by Mr Singh when briefing the press last week.
Despite the care both sides have taken to underline the closeness of their relationship it seems likely that President Obama and Prime Minister Singh will express differing views on certain matters.
Afghanistan, and particularly the decision on whether to commit more troops to the conflict there, is currently occupying a great deal of President Obama's time but Mr Singh is adamant that the U.S. must remain in the country in which the Taliban is seeking to regain control, if a civil war is to be prevented.
Last November over 170 people were killed in India's financial capital Mumbai as Islamic militants, some of whom were trained in Pakistan, launched attacks that lasted three days. Those bombings and shootings further strained relations between India and Pakistan and have led Mr Singh to state that India's western neighbor is not doing enough to stop militants such as those who attacked his country's largest city.
According to
AFP, in an interview with the
Washington Post and
Newsweek Mr Singh said:
We have been the victims of Pakistan-aided, -abetted and-inspired terrorism for nearly 25 years. We would like the United States to use all its influence with Pakistan to desist from that path. Pakistan has nothing to fear from India. It's a tragedy that Pakistan has come to the point of using terror as an instrument of state policy
Furthermore Mr Singh believes that Pakistan, which supported the Taliban regime in Afghanistan until 2001, wants to continue to have an influence over Afghan affairs and only takes action against the Taliban when its military is threatened by the Islamist organization in some way.
Mr Singh, leader of a country in which a considerable number of people are uneasy at the massive amount of aid Pakistan receives from the U.S., doubts that Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari is fully in control of his nation and has indicated that he considers the army to be the most powerful force in Pakistan at the present time.
India has itself provided financial assistance to Afghanistan as efforts to rebuild the country after the demise of the Taliban government have continued. However
AFP states that there are fears in Pakistan regarding the role India is playing in Afghanistan and those fears are likely to manifest themselves in anti-U.S. sentiment amongst the Pakistani population.
With December's United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen fast approaching President Obama and Prime Minister Singh are expected to air their differences regarding the approaches both their countries should take when tackling carbon emissions.
All Headline News says that members of Congress and of President Obama's cabinet, as well as leaders of the Indian-American community, will all meet with Mr Singh during his time in the U.S.
