WORLD> America
Clinton's India ties may complicate Obama policy
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-12-02 08:58

WASHINGTON -- The close ties with India that Secretary of State-nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton forged during her years as a US senator and presidential candidate could complicate diplomatic perceptions of her ability to serve as a neutral broker between India and its nuclear neighbor, Pakistan.


President-elect Barack Obama introduces Secretary of State-designate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., as a news conference in Chicago, Monday, December 1, 2008. [Agencies] 

With tensions rising between India and Pakistan after last week's deadly terrorist attacks in Mumbai, Hillary Clinton faces an early test of her influence in South Asia, where President-elect Barack Obama on Monday said that instability and the rise of militants pose "the single most important threat against the American people."

Related readings:
 It's official, Clinton to be secretary of state
Both Hillary Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, have maintained warm relations for years with India and the Indian-American community. As New York's senator for eight years and as a 2008 presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton toured India and visited with Indian officials and entrepreneurs, and her campaigns profited from the largesse of Indian-American fundraisers. Bill Clinton's charitable foundation has been funded by some of the same well-heeled Indian businessmen who backed his wife's campaigns.

In her new role as the nation's top diplomat, Hillary Clinton would project Obama's policies, not her own. But even foreign affairs experts who wave off suggestions that Hillary Clinton would lean toward either Asian power acknowledge that the perception of such a tilt could cause suspicions in Pakistan. South Asia experts reject the assertion of bias, but they acknowledge it exists.

"There are some who believe it, but I think most people think she is an objective observer with a good understanding of South Asia," said Walter Andersen, Associate Director of the South Asia Studies Program at Johns Hopkins University's School for Advanced International Studies. Andersen insisted perceptions of Hillary Clinton's bias toward India are "based on inaccuracy."

Karin Von Hippel, a South Asia expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, agreed, saying Hillary Clinton is "very balanced" and "understands almost better than anybody how delicate the situation is between these two countries."

Still, perceptions matter, especially in the region. "There are concerns that she is seen as pro-India, she and her husband both," said one Washington-based foreign diplomat with extensive experience in South Asia. "The Pakistanis definitely see them as closer and friendlier to India."

The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue of India and Pakistan, which have fought three wars -- two of them over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir -- since winning independence from Britain.

   Previous page 1 2 Next Page