Opportunities missed!

American businesses are bullish on doing business with India despite slow-paced reforms but President Barrack Obama, who leaves office January 2017, will not be able to help with the Indian civilian nuclear programme by getting China’s support, according to a political and economic expert.

The Americans also regret for not having put through the F-16 fighter jet manufacturing facility in India, as New Delhi signed the French jet Rafale deal, noted Michael Moran, a Principal for Global Risk Analysis at the New York-based consultancy Control Risks.

“American businesses are actually very bullish on investing in India,” said Moran, also a foreign policy analyst, author and geo-strategist.

But these businesses are also aware of the slower paced reforms, inept Judiciary system and wide spread of corruption in the country, which still remains an attractive and democratic market of 1.2 billion people, he pointed out.

The India-US bilateral relations are very strong these days and supports strong economic activities.

“For the US, the security concerns surrounding the idea of licensing F-16 manufacturing in India were acute given India’s continued close ties to Russian arms exporters. However, there are many who regret not going forward due to the strategic importance of the fighter sale.”

New Delhi has penned the deal with French Rafale jets.

Moran believes the American could have given F-16 with an upgraded version with the state-of-the-art technology to the India Air Force.

“The F-16 has been steadily upgraded through the years. But the fighter platform itself is not the point in modern air combat. Pilots don’t have dog fights anymore. Instead, the aircraft are nodes in a complex, networked web of sensors and weapons systems. And the F-16 and other US platforms are unrivaled in that regard.”

Meanwhile, President Obama will leave White House on January 8, 2017, without being able to help India’s civilian nuclear programme, especially having not won China’s support.

Obama and Beijing would want India to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) for a way forward for both the civilian nuclear programme and a seat in the United Nations Security Council.

But India would not sign NPT unless its arch-rival Pakistan do so. “This is a difficult situation,” he added.

Compared to India-US relationship, the China-US relationship is in a poor state, for various reasons including the rhetoric in the ongoing US election campaigns where China, as low-cost manufacturer, is blamed for jobless rates in the states.

The Chinese takes notes of all these issues, including the US stand on South China Sea, for which Washington continues to seek New Delhi support though the Indians are always uncomfortable, according to Moran observation.

Therefore, Obama will exist without having succeeded in India’s nuclear programme having made a lot of political investment, according to Moran.

It would leave India flat-footed for not having a major energy option to support its vibrant economic activities, he felt. fii-news.com