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US-India Relations Hit Rough Patch
"The Indians are making it very clear that this is not going to be a relationship of unequals," Polaski said.
Analysts say that early, glowing rhetoric from both countries' leaders led many to believe that the nuclear accord would be settled easily. Both countries also portrayed the nuclear deal as the foundation of growing cooperation.
  Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, right, walks to the podium after being introduced by former U.S. Ambassador to India Robert Blackwill, at the US-India Business Council, Wednesday, June 27, 2007, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) (Manuel Balce Ceneta - AP) 
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Robert Einhorn, a former U.S. assistant secretary of state for nonproliferation, said, "Why take the single most controversial issue and make it the centerpiece of your engagement strategy?"
Failure in the nuclear talks, he said, would be a setback but only a temporary one because of the deepening connections between citizens and governments in the two countries.
"In the next couple of months, we'll see if this India-U.S. civil nuclear deal will fly or not. The window is closing in terms of the opportunity to do this," said Einhorn, now an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Rice also said in her speech that it would be a "tragedy and a true shame" if India and the United States did not do more to push ahead WTO talks, which for six years have failed to break a logjam between rich and poor countries over eliminating barriers to trade in farm produce and manufactured goods.
Brazil and India criticize the United States for its failure to offer deep enough cuts in the billions of dollars of subsidies it pays annually to American farmers. The European Union and the United States say the two emerging economic powers refuse to offer new market opportunities for manufacturing exports.
The top U.S. trade official, Susan Schwab, appearing with her Indian counterpart at the U.S.-India Business Council meeting, urged India to make the sacrifices necessary to push the trade deal through. Kamal Nath said India must be mindful of the millions of poor in his country who live on less than a dollar a day.
Polaski, the trade analyst, said Indian officials have been unwilling "to compromise what they see as their core interests for the sake of a trade deal."
"There is no question that it causes heartburn," Polaski said. "But I don't think it's going to cause a fundamental crack in the relationship."
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On the Net:
U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Cooperation Initiative:
http:/
World Trade Organization: http:/
