A C-17 with a portion of President Obama’s security detail and equipment arrives in Mumbai on Tuesday. A deal for ten C-17 heavy transports will not be signed when Obama is in India, but shortly after.
Photography by Kevin D’Souza / ©The Indian Express
this is like Sher aya, sher aya………………………….
and, Shiv…..happy diwali……
Happy Diwali! Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't the deal being signed with Boeing, and may be with the state department being in the middle? Why would Obama need to sign anything for C-17s? Boeing is a privately held company so they would be the one signing the contract, but yes this is a govt to govt deal and thus State Department (I cannot think of any other departments that may get involved) may be a logical representative for the US Govt.
Good!
not much benefit in hanging out with a one term wonder boy!
– nanovacuum (US)
I am not so sure that he will be a one term wonder. People wrote-off Bill Clinton in 1994, only to have him re-elected in 1996. Just for clarification: Yes, I live in the US, but I am an independent voter who did vote yesterday. I am glad that power in the congress is divided, this will force both parties to come to the table. If they manage well, they both will get a pat on their backs, but if they dig a deeper hole, both will share the blame too. I am actually happy that the power is now divided. I predict that this will help Obama in 2012.
I think this so called "Balance of Power" will help Indians in negotiating with the US. Any necessary approvals in congress may take time but will get through as no party would want to bare the blame for not approving a deal that could mean billions in revenue for the US businesses. The percentage amount of Indian purchase may not be big, but in this environment people will notice that and may become a campaign issue in the next election cycle.
Anon@12:17-
Well said. Hope you are right.
anonym@12:17 AM:
Glad to see your comment.
I remember Bill Clinton! I am an independent. I voted for him very energetically. Came to think about it, the population was feeling happy about the country's direction and some comprehension about it (Monica did not matter). Quite opposite from now — isn't it? Look at this South Asia trip. What is it? Vacation in Indonesia? What would he "show and tell" on return? Just the intellectual mind gathering? How would the average American respond? Talk about the ineptness.
On the political side, in the recent days, India did much better with the Republicans (more on the Congress, Senate, Bush and Clinton). The biggest opposition to Indian Nuclear deal came from NE Democrats. I did not forget the bow tie congressman from Mass. At times he sounded like crusader for Pk well being. Look at the Pk policy now – where did the big stick go?
Given India's position now in the "consumer bracket" US business would be very happy to make friens — only if the govt allowed. As you know, business is the mightiest force in America and Reps are with it. Dems carry around too many slogans and brings the things down in their own weight. I hard Chris Mathew once saying "You tell Dems to form a firing squad, they stand in a circle".
"Balance of Power" with US won't work. "Blackmail"? As Pakistan showed it will. They got America in a life long bondage (hate to use these terms). China's Iran trade goes full force. India?
Indians are too naive and too much of a gentleman. (sorry for this comment but I had to say it).
– nanovacuum (US)
anonym@ 8:21 AM
Thank you for responding to my comments. I do not disagree with you. The condition of the economy is different today than it was in 1994. But do not forget that regardless of what the political attacks on both sides say, the fact is employment is up… remember, the previous number did not include the folks who were too discourage to look for work, and thus unemployment has been steady at about 10%, even though new jobs have been added in recent quarters. Now getting this idea through the voters heads is a totally different issue. First time in may years, our trade deficit went down in later half of 2009 to today. These are all positive signs and it will take a whole lot of time before things are back on track. Will things be OK in 2012, I do not know, and therefore I do not want to predict if Obama will be re-elected or not? It's just too early.
Considering the shape of the economy, and the whole Tea Party Wave (Though I do not like most of the ideas coming from the Tea Party Folks) I think "Balance of Power" will work well. No one party is in a position to put the blame on the other. If they do not work together they both will sink. And that is good for relatively big buyers like India. India may be able to threaten to walk away if things do not their way. And none of the politicians would want to go back to their districts and say yes they said no to several billion $$$…. Though 10-20 billion is not a huge amount, but folks will notice such a blunder, especially becuase the other party will start talking about it. Of course, this is all with the assumption that India will grow a back-bone and drive a hard bargain, but unfortunately looking at the way India has handeled recent negotiations with the Russian on VIK purchase price, and timelines, and still nothing is for sure makes me think that we have not learned our lesson. At least with C-130J, the timelines are being honored (though India will not get some equippment, but this has to do with agreemnts and that condition was laid out up-front)…. I do not remember the last time that Russians delivered everything on budget and on time… I am sure that has happened, but at least not in the recent history that I can think of.