India Between Superpowers: Negotiating China and the US
Frédéric Bobin
Despite a visit by French President Nicolas Sarkozy in recent days, India's priority is clearly focused on the main actors in Asia: China and the US, says Frédéric Bobin of Le Monde. A rising power itself, India is now stuck in the position of doing a diplomatic dance between the two superpowers in an attempt to collude with the US without upsetting China. Although India is distrustful of a rising China and concerned about Islamic terrorism, two issues which bring it together with the US, it is equally wary of manipulation by the United States in an anti-Chinese coalition. The US, in turn, has been making exceptions for India despite the fact that it has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty. Recently, however, India's "fundamentalism" is causing it to back away from overt Western friendliness, which could put a damper on newly improved US relations. Watching America, January 26, 2008
