India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is in Washington for an official state visit with Barack Obama.B MATHUR
Imagery isn't quite everything, but the fact Barack Obama singled out India - the world's largest democracy, a rising power and a key player in strategically pivotal South Asia - reflects the administration's priorities and the way it wants to be seen by the world.
So, a red-carpet welcome, 21-gun salute and glittering state dinner, the first since the Obamas moved into the White House, will greet Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday.
Other leaders, including Canada's Stephen Harper who jockeyed to be first to Washington, have already been here, but in the pecking order of importance, a "working" visit pales beside the grandeur and ceremony of an "official state visit."
"I think this is very appropriate, and no one in Pakistan and no one in any other country should read this in any way as a diminution of the importance we attach to them," said Richard Holbrooke, the President's special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan. "Someone has to have the first trip … a state dinner, a state visit is a big deal, different level of intensity, and President Obama thought this was the right way to go, and we're thrilled."
The imagery is vital; presidents know their every gesture is watched as an indicator of importance and policy shifts.
So when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited last month and didn't even get the usual Oval Office photo opportunity, it was seen almost as a cold shoulder from an administration determined to take a tougher line on stopping Israeli settlements in the occupied territories.
By contrast, German Chancellor Angela Merkel was invited to address a special joint session of Congress during her visit this month, only days before the 20th anniversary of the iconic, Cold-War-ending, fall of the Berlin Wall.
Still, it will take more than a state dinner to allay Indian fears that the Obama administration isn't paying as much attention to New Delhi as it deserves, and perhaps not even as much as former president George W. Bush, who signed a landmark nuclear pact with India.
Mr. Obama, just back from Beijing, faces the tricky task of persuading India that the United States regards it as Indians regard themselves, as one of the four or five major world powers, with the historical, cultural, economic and military heft to match.
"We may aspire to a seat at the high table of world power, but China is already sitting at the head of the table along with the United States," Gautam Adhikari wrote in the Times of India yesterday.
The big prize - far bigger than the glitter of a state dinner - will be if Mr. Obama announces today that he wants India to have a permanent seat, albeit without a veto, on the UN Security Council.
While the still-secret guest list will be closely examined for hints as to Washington's new glitterati, there are plenty of issues vexing what is a still-developing relationship.
India wants Washington to make clear that the need for greater Pakistani effort to crack down on Islamic terrorism isn't just focused on the Taliban and Afghanistan. Barely a year ago, Pakistan-based extremists killed 166 people in Mumbai. New Delhi accuses Islamabad of dragging its feet on the investigation into the group behind the attack.
Mr. Singh is also waiting, like the rest of the world, to learn whether Mr. Obama will deploy the tens of thousands of additional troops his generals believe are need to win the counterinsurgency in Afghanistan.
The Indian leader yesterday fired off a gentle warning about the risks of quitting too soon in Afghanistan. "I sincerely hope that the world community would have the wisdom to stay engaged in that process. Any premature talk of exit will only embolden the terrorist elements who are out to destabilize not only our part of the world but the civilized world everywhere," he said in a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
So far, Washington has tried to avoid the entanglements involved in trying to broker India-Pakistan peace talks over Kashmir. But if Mr. Obama intends for India to play a role in the emergence of Afghanistan as a peaceful, stable, democratic state, then improved Indo-Pakistani relations may be required.
Not everyone regards the splendour of Mr. Singh's state visit as an accurate reflection of the importance Mr. Obama attaches to the Indo-American relationship.
"I don't see this administration launching any strategic efforts that include India," said Stephen Cohen, a South Asian expert at the Brookings Institution. Mr. Cohen says he expects a "lot of tier 2" announcements but nothing of real significance. The Obama administration, he said, is looking for short-term collaboration rather than making any enduring commitment to dealing with the interrelated problems of South Asia.