President Barack Obama may have been happier going back home with a target-defined Indian pronouncement on climate change, but his top aides say the United States is “very pleased” with the outcomes in several key areas including the civil nuclear deal and defence cooperation. Obama and his delegation were leaving New Delhi “very pleased with both the tangible progress on issues like the civ-nuc agreement, the defence agreements, the clean energy cooperation,” US Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes said.
That apart, the Obama visit may have opened up space for “a much broader US-Indian collaboration on regional and global issues and on trade and commercial relations”, Rhodes said in comments to the American media accompanying the President. Quizzed on the much-talked about Modi-Obama chemistry, he termed the close, personal friendship “an important asset” that is sending signals down to the effect that “we can’t kind of accept the status quo anymore (and) that we have to get things done together”.
“The signal that is being sent from President Obama and Prime Minister Modi into their own respective Governments I think is going to catalyse a lot of activity, and we’re going to see where we can take this relationship,” Rhodes said, adding: “It also sends a message to the world, I think, that the US and India are going to be closer partners going forward.”
“I think what’s happened here is Prime Minister Modi came to office and made a very deliberate decision to say the American relationship is a priority for me,” he said and recalled their Washington discussions that paved the way for a meeting of minds. US Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker commented that the momentum in US-India commercial sector over the past four months is something she has rarely seen, save for one or two countries with which America is interfacing.
Nonetheless, a lot of work has to be done, Pritzker said as she lauded the decision by Obama and Modi to expand the US-India Strategic Dialogue that will henceforth become US India Strategic and Commercial Dialogue, which she will co-chair with Secretary of State John Kerry on the American side. On the civil nuclear front, Rhodes made the point that while the two governments have reached an understanding on removing the impediments, it is ultimately for the American companies (GE and Westinghouse) to make their own determinations on whether and when to invest in India. “We’ll be consulting with them,” he said, noting that both companies have put out statements welcoming the step forward.
Sections of the American media, however, were lukewarm in their assessment of the Obama visit. The Washington Post focused on the “elusive climate deal”, while noting “a series of modest initiatives to bolster trade and investment with India”. Obama, the Post said, had hoped to leave New Delhi with a smaller version of the landmark climate change deal that he had negotiated with China last November, but was departing with “a series of modest proposals”.
But John Podesta, Counsellor to President Obama, still sounded upbeat about Modi’s announcement of an “aggressive programme” to pursue clean and renewable energy. The US will be partnering with India to help produce 100 gigawatts of solar power between now and 2022. Podesta also touched on another new partnership that will be led by the US Environmental Protection Agency to work with the Indian government to monitor the air quality in major Indian cities and mitigate the effects of pollution.