Washington: (IANS) Suggesting a foreign policy rift between President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a Forbes columnist says her trip to India “is Clinton’s way of literally and figuratively distancing herself from Obama”.

“She left the US amid reports of intense infighting with a White House intent on marginalizing her role,” said Gordon G. Chang, a columnist of the US business magazine. 

“Real policymaking power, some say, is now exercised by a small West Wing group cantered on Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.
“While she has been publicly denying the rumours, the Secretary of State has been on the attack, tarring President Obama through intermediaries,” wrote Chang, the author of “The Coming Collapse of China”, in his column titled “Clinton Chooses India”.

“One of her State Department aides has argued in off-the-record conversations that Obama has been making a series of foreign policy blunders, among them letting the Chinese do whatever they want and giving them more than they ask for,” he suggested. 

“The trip to India and Thailand, in one sense, is Clinton’s way of literally and figuratively distancing herself from Obama, her way of letting us know she has better policies for dealing with Beijing,” Chang suggested.
In search of a better China policy, “the White House saw the need to hedge against China, it looked to Russia,” he says suggesting that’s what the president’s trip to Moscow this month was all about.

“Clinton’s concept of siding with another large democracy seems much more attractive - and sustainable. Most important, the US and India share values,” Chang said.

“Moreover, Washington and New Delhi have common geopolitical interests in that both are threatened - albeit in different ways - by an assertive Beijing. There are, however, areas of disagreement between the US and India. 

“Finally, there is India’s twin, the troubled nation of Pakistan,” Chang said.
“The US cannot afford to make Islamabad an adversary just to please New Delhi, but the US needs to rebalance its unsuccessful Pakistani policies in any event and that rebalancing will inevitably please India.
“In short, there is no issue that prevents Americans and Indians from joining together in a durable partnership,” the author concluded.

       


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