India Was Out of Obama’s Priority List Until Start of Modi's Term

© AFP 2023 / PRAKASH SINGHIndia's Prime Minister Narendra Modi gestures as he speaks at The India-UK Tech Summit in New Delhi on November 7, 2016
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi gestures as he speaks at The India-UK Tech Summit in New Delhi on November 7, 2016 - Sputnik International
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It's hard to digest for Indian strategists, but the country was not a top priority for the outgoing Obama administration within many years. In fact, Obama was much more concerned with India's rival Pakistan.

NEW DELHI (Sputnik) − According to a former Indian-American White House official, India was not the first priority for the Obama Administration among the South Asian countries.

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"It started out very strong and then everyone knows in the middle years in 2011, 2012 and 2013 it was really short of a low point in the relationship. At that point you had administration officials on both sides openly criticizing each other," Anish Goel, former Director South Asia, National Security Council, White House told an Indian news agency.

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According to Anish Goel, Obama wanted to continue the strong relationship with India. But his priorities lay elsewhere. Among the South Asian countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan were his priorities. After Modi became the Prime Minister, the relationship has seen an upward trend. The strip-searching of Indian consulate official Devyani Khobargade episode had also spiked bilateral ties.

"India-US relations blossomed after the nuclear deal and since then the relations between the two countries saw an upward trend. But after the hype of Indo-US Nuclear Deal subsided, the relations went on low ebb," Sudhir Singh, Professor in Delhi University told Sputnik.

"In fact, the Obama Administration had to recall Tim Roemer, US Ambassador in India. After that the US embassy was without any ambassador for several months. That was clear indication that India was not in the priority list of the Obama Administration. But after Modi became PM, Indo-US relations saw a fresh dawn and both are now strategic allies," Sudhir Singh added.

That is all water under the bridge. India's main concern now is how it will fit in with Donald Trump priorities for South Asia.

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