NEW DELHI: India's shoddy treatment of US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, the one person who has fought so hard to deliver the nuclear deal, is inexplicable. Though the US is tight-lipped about the fact that Rice wasted precious time and energy to be present in the capital for what turned out to be a non-event, they are furious and aghast at Indias behaviour.
While it is understood that India did not want to legalise the bilateral 123 Agreement by signing the deal before president George W Bush inked it into a law, and is waiting for the statement before making any commitments, what is confusing is why they waited till the last minute to tell Washington on what they had decided.
Rice was told about it only when she was about to board the flight to India. What stopped the government from explaining its position before her travel plans were made? India was strangely silent after the US senate vote. Officials privately explained that India did not comment because the vote was a domestic issue of the US.
President Bush is signing the bilateral agreement into a law on Wednesday and all New Delhi had to do was to make it clear that Rice should delay her trip to India by a few days. Instead, India went through the entire charade of the Saturday visit.
Indian government officials refused to comment on the issue, saying they had expected Bush to sign it soon after the senate approval and the process completed before the Rice air-dash to India.
The feeling in the US camp is one of major disappointment. They feel that president Bush, who has delivered on all his promises to India, is still not trusted by Indian government leaders, including prime minister Manmohan Singh.
Without the US push, the Nuclear Suppliers Group would never have allowed the Indian waiver. US ambassador David Mulford himself admitted he had never seen this kind of diplomatic effort by the US to get the exemption through for India.
Breaking protocol, Manmohan held a banquet for Rice to possibly soothe ruffled feathers. By all counts, this did not assuage the US official. One thing is clear, Washington will be careful not to go out on a limb for India. At least senior Bush administration officials realise how difficult it is to deal with India. Luckily for India, this administration is going out of office by the end of the year.
