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| Daily News Brief January 27, 2015 |
Top of the Agenda
Obama Leaves India After Pledges to Strengthen Ties
U.S. President Barack Obama concluded his three-day visit to India on Tuesday after attending India's Republic Day celebration as the guest of honor. The president elevated ties (NDTV)
between the world's two largest democracies, saying that the U.S.-India
relationship "could be one of the defining partnerships of the
century." The centerpiece of the visit was the announcement of a breakthrough (NYT)
on the U.S.-India civilian nuclear trade deal; a slate of issues had
prevented the implementation of the 2005 agreement. The leaders planned
to deepen defense ties, and Obama pledged (TIME) $4 billion in investment and loans to boost bilateral trade. On his final day, the president urged India to safeguard (Reuters)
gender equality and religious freedom in a town-hall address before
leaving for Saudi Arabia to pay his respects to the new king.
Analysis
"The
question was whether it would be a great visit, and a historic visit.
Clearly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wanted it that way and he has
successfully put his imprint on India-U.S. relations," writes former Indian diplomat Rakesh Sood in the Hindu.
"Obama,
coming out of this symbolic and important visit to India, should
demonstrate that Washington will do its part for India’s future by integrating India into economic regimes focused on delivering growth. That would be an ambitious agenda worth pursuing," writes CFR's Alyssa Ayres for Fortune.
"The
US-India relationship is being built on something more solid than the
sand of shifting world events—not least because both sides have
significant differences on all of these issues, and overt policy
convergence would be viewed as toxic within India. Far more important is
the US view that a strong India
is good for the United States regardless of its policy on specific
issues. A strong India ensures that no single power, least of all
autocratic China, dominates Asia in the decades ahead," argues Shashank
Joshi in Al Jazeera.
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