THE UNITED STATES is now targeting the Asia market and President Barack Obama has embarked on a ten-day Asian visit immediately after his Democratic Party suffered a major electoral defeat in the recent mid-term elections.
Given the message emanating from this setback, Mr Obama may have been spurred on to undertake this tour in an effort to revive the American economy as the new domestic emphasis is on economic matters. His entourage includes about 2 000 business executives.
The purported objective of this Asian trip is to double American exports and create jobs within the United States. This is why Mr Obama is embarking on a four-nation tour to Asian economic giants, including India, Indonesia, South Korea and Japan for economic, political and strategic reasons.
His first stop in India is not only symbolic but is significant not only in terms of boosting economic ties and multiplying business ventures between the two states, but also for strategic purposes.
A US$5.8 billion defence deal entailing United States-made military transport planes has already been finalised.
Despite the president’s economic objective, the thorny issues of regional security are of major concern to the United States. These consist of Pakistan’s tepid approach towards terrorist groups allegedly targeting India and the political and economic future of Afghanistan.
India, especially since the 2008 Mumbai attacks, has been urging the United States to pressure Pakistan on bringing the perpetrators to justice, something it feels Pakistan has been avoiding for too long.
To be fair, Islamabad has also been a victim of terror.
Despite the relationship between India and the United States, Pakistan will always feature prominently in America’s war on terror. In this context, it is important that there be peace between these two neighbours which is the sine qua non for regional stability.
This reality is clearly not lost on Mr Obama as he categorically said that without appreciating Pakistan’s input in the ongoing war on terrorism, no headway could be made. This posture was a sharp departure from the traditional abrasive diplomatic language that foreign leaders tend to use while visiting India for reasons of political exigency.
Concerns such as the implications of an eventual exit of United States troops from Afghanistan and the long-standing tensions of Kasmir are not unfounded and we are hopeful that these could have been resolved during the discussions together with concerns over the Cold Start military doctrine adopted by India.
A fine balancing act is necessary in maintaining functional and cordial relations with both Pakistan and India.
The United States must play a positive role in resolving global tensions but is now on a mission to Asia to secure its economic survival. It gives some idea that the stakes are indeed changing for the world’s lone superpower.