Prime Minister Manmohan Singh leaves for the US on Wednesday in a visit that will see him holding his sixth bilateral summit with the US president and also addressing the UN General Assembly in New York.
However, what will perhaps be even more eagerly awaited in the world of realpolitik is the meeting the PM will be having with his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, on the margins of the UNGA on September 29.
The two neighbours will be hoping to picking up the threads of bilateral ties that went into a tailspin initially in January this year and once again in August, both times after Indian army soldiers were killed by Pak Army troops.
As for the Singh-Obama meeting scheduled for September 27, the government will once again be hoping to allay misgivings that relations have hit a plateau in recent years. Seeking to allay such fears, National Security Adviser (NSA) Shivshankar Menon had noted last week: “Despite this range of relationships, some today speak of drift in the relationship. I find this a rather strange way to describe a relationship where the two governments have thirty-two dialogue mechanisms meeting each year.”
According to him, one reason for this perception could be that the ties are “now a full spectrum relationship no longer focused on one big transformational idea like civil nuclear cooperation. However, the civil nuclear deal will once again be in focus during the PM’s visit as a preliminary contract is expected to be signed between NPCIL and American company with regard to the proposed construction of six nuclear reactors in Mithi Virdi in Gujarat.
At the UNGA where the PM is scheduled to speak on September 28, India is expected to make a strong pitch yet again for the reform of the 15-member UN Security Council (UNSC).
India’s been seeking the expansion of the 15-member UNSC through an increase in the number of both permanent and non-permanent members. Voicing the concerns of India over the lack of reforms in the UNSC, the Indian ambassador to the UN, Asoke Mukerji was quoted by agencies as saying in New York on Tuesday, “The frustration is now being felt by the international community.”