What McCain's comments did was to support the view that the Republicans were more pro-Indian than the Democrats, a belief which was confirmed by George W. Bush's role in pushing through the Indo-US nuclear deal against stiff opposition from a large section of Democrats and the “liberal” New York Times. If Obama intended to modify his earlier statement on the Security Council issue, he might have phrased his response to a question from the PTI on the subject in a more diplomatic manner while still in the US instead of referring to it as difficult and complicated.

It is a matter of satisfaction, however, that the difficulties and complexities vanished within two days of Obama's arrival in India. Since the increasingly assertive Indian elite regards the permanent membership of the Security Council as the country's natural right, Obama's announcement will lessen any hard feelings against him and the Democrats. Some uneasiness will remain, however, about his comments on Pakistan and terrorism. Although he has endorsed India's demand that Islamabad must disband the terrorist infrastructure, it is no more than the kind of wishful thinking in which Washington has been indulging.

Just as Pakistan hasn't paid much attention to the American demand that it must book the perpetrators of 26/11 or that the army must act more resolutely against the terrorists in the north-west, it is also likely to ignore the call for dismantling the terror camps. Even then, it is clear that Obama's visit has firmed up Indo-US relations in a way which Pakistan will not like. Till now, the Indians were evidently susceptible to Washington's pressure for talking to Pakistan. In Sharm-al-Sheikh, India went even as far as to include the Baluchistan question into the joint statement, much to Pakistan's delight. Perhaps New Delhi believed that its mellowness would rub on to Pakistan as well.

But it is now clear that such concessions are of no use because of the implacable hostility of Ashfaq Pervez Kayani and Ahmed Shuja Pasha, the chiefs of the army and the ISI, towards India. The two seem to have convinced themselves that Pakistan must be able to grab Kashmir sooner rather than later because time is running out. Hence, the scuttling of the Islamabad talks between S.M. Krishna and Shah Mehmood Qureshi since the army apparently did not like India's reluctance for a more substantive dialogue on Kashmir. Qureshi's subsequent reference to Kashmir before the UN also showed that it was Kayani rather than Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani who was calling the shots. Pakistan has also been seeking American intervention on the issue in negation of the emphasis on bilateralism in the Shimla agreement.

But the Obama visit seems to have queered the pitch for Pakistan. First, the support for permanent membership means that the six decades of hyphenation between India and Pakistan is gone, depriving the latter of the illusion that it is India's equal in the subcontinent. Secondly, it is unlikely that America will push India any further on talking to Pakistan after Manmohan Singh clarified that there is no point in negotiations as long as Islamabad continues to train terrorists. What is more, the fear expressed by an American analyst that another 9/11 as well as 26/11 is bound to take place underlines the realization in the US that Pakistan is beyond remedy.

After the failed attempts of Faisal Shahzad to set off a bomb in New York's Times Square, and of the Yemeni terrorists to detonate bombs in the cargo holds of West-bound planes, the US is likely to reassess its anti-terror strategy. Since it is clear that its ties with its strategic “ally” has made no difference to the terrorist threat, America has apparently woken up to the value of its partnership with India and to retain its commitment to Afghanistan even after the withdrawal of a substantial number of US and NATO troops from there next year. America's earlier disinclination to let India continue with its humanitarian mission in Afghanistan because of Pakistani objections also seems to have ended.

The earlier strained relations between India and America were an aberration caused by Washington's dependence on Pakistan during the cold war and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. But while the US wanted Pakistan to deal with their mutual enemies in the west and the north, Islamabad's sole intention was to turn America against India. It is this deceitful tactic of Pakistan which has now been exposed. (IPA Service)