Cosying up to Delhi

Barack Obama is visiting India for an unprecedented second time in his presidency. At the moment, we feel ignored. Why do we not understand that India is in a different league altogether? It is the 10th largest economy in the world and is on track to becoming the third largest in the next decade-and-a-half or so. Its dynamic middle-class is more than the population of the US. All this is reason enough for not only the US but other economic giants to cosy up to India. It is the economy that matters and India is rich in economic pickings.
It has the third largest pool of trained scientific and technical manpower in the world after the US and Russia. Its navy commands vast reaches of the Indian Ocean where more than half of the world’s maritime trade takes place. In short, India matters. It has a global presence, its internal problems like separatist movements, insurgencies, poverty, caste system, discrimination against minorities, rights abuses in occupied Kashmir, etc, notwithstanding. We need to put our house in order and take steps that command international respect.
Farid Nawaz
Islamabad