Obama reaches out to India

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: During President Barack Obama’s visit to India this week, he was chief guest at the celebration of its grand Republic Day, the first time an American was given the honor.

The trip was another candle on the cake of the improved relations between the United States and India that its new prime minister, Narendra Modi, is building with Obama. Modi visited the United States in the fall.

Obama has many reasons to work on this relationship. India is a huge country with a population of 1.3 billion and an economy, although burdened with some constraints, that is growing. Bilateral annual trade stands at about $100 billion, which could rise given India’s rapid development. It is new ground for the United States as India’s barriers to more U.S. engagement fall.

In the past, for example, India has bought weapons from Russia. Its military market is estimated to be at least $100 million per year.

On the other hand, both India and Modi present potential problems for Washington. Modi wants to tie the United States into an alliance against growing Chinese influence in Asia. Obama must be careful that his efforts to pivot U.S. interest in the world to Asia doesn’t become an anti-China campaign.