India's growing strategic partnership with the United States is never going to be easy as New Delhi might have to say 'no' to Washington on some occasions, former National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra believes.
Mishra, a close aide of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, said India had said 'no' to the US on some issues like not agreeing to send troops to Iraq, and opening a number of consulates in Afghanistan even after Washington had advised against it.
"A superpower forces its agenda on others and if you want to talk with it, you will have to accommodate some of its concerns," he said at a brainstorming session on the Indo-US Strategic Partnership organised by the Indo America Friendship Association.
He said the relationship between a superpower and a country like India, which has had a tradition of following an independent foreign policy, is therefore 'never going to be easy... for sometimes you will have to say no.'
He also said there is resentment in India on certain American policy issues, particularly related to Pakistan.
"In this country there is resentment. US Af-Pak envoy Richard Holbrooke has talked about Kashmir, and in saying that wishes of Kashmiri people should be taken into view have endorsed Pakistan's point of view," he pointed out.
He also said that the US might be a friend of India, but its policies towards Pakistan have had the same adverse impact on New Delhi as that of China, a manifestation of the fact that the strategic partnership is not going to be easy.
"China has been cooperating with Pakistan politically, military and economically, and so is the US... having the same adverse impact on India... In India too there is a certain view that going with the US is full of risks," he said.
He warned that all the billions of dollars flowing into Pakistan to 'strengthen democracy' are not going to help as equal importance is also being given to Pakistani army, whose supremacy in the country depends upon the 'enmity with India.'
He said despite common strategic interests to keep the Taliban away in Afghanistan, the way the situation is being handled might take the country back to 1996.
Speaking during the session, former Indian Ambassador to Washington, Lalit Mansingh described the upcoming visit of US President Barack Obama as a 'make or break' case, and said its success depends on him bringing in 'deliverables' like progress on dual technology exports.
He said a feeling of being sidelined in the political settlement of Afghanistan, the recent H1B visa fee hike issue and export controls are some of the irritants in bilateral relationship.
Donald Lu, deputy chief of mission in the US embassy in New Delhi, however, had a more positive view of the emerging bilateral relations between the US and India.
He pointed out that while it took Bill Clinton to visit India eight years during his presidency and George W Bush came to India six years into his presidency, Obama announced his India visit just one and a half years after assuming the office.
"This is unprecedented for a US president, and I hope one day we will not only be partners but brothers and allies," he said.
He also said the acceptance of Indian flood aid by Pakistan 'speaks positively about the relationship between regular Indians and regular Pakistanis.'
Kanwal Sibal, former Indian Ambassador to Russia and former foreign secretary, also said that India should not expect 'equality"' in relationship with the US as that is inherent in problems between a superpower and a rising power.
