A business trip - Mr. Barack Obama to India...

The chief business of the American people, argued Calvin Coolidge, is business. So if the television pundits and mandarins of India’s security and political establishment expected President Barack Obama to lustily cheer for India and blast the traditional US ally and friend Pakistan as the fount of global terror the moment he landed in Mumbai, they would have been disappointed.
Even though by opting to begin his visit in Mumbai with a memorial ceremony for the 26/11 victims at Hotel Taj and condemning terrorism in strongest terms possible, Obama sent the right message, some of his hosts took exception to the fact that he did not slam Pakistan as the alleged architect of the terror attacks two years ago. Others expected other things in his very first speech, as though he was Father Christmas offering his hosts all sorts of things wherever he went.
All said and done this visit, historic and defining as it is in many ways, is not about India or about the US equation with India and Pakistan. This visit that also takes Obama to South Korea, Japan and Indonesia, the largest Muslim country where he grew up, is about the US economic interests.  Haunted by the devastating effects of the recession and the economic mess left behind by his reckless predecessor, which have just cost his party the midterm elections, the US leader is on a mission to sell the US economic agenda.
This is not just about doing something about those tens of millions of American jobs outsourced to little known businesses and call centers in India.  It’s also about boosting Indian investments in the US, which have grown exponentially over the past few years, creating jobs in towns and cities across America. Obama is also keen to increase the US exports to India, balancing a trade partnership tilted in favor of the rising Asian giant.
So it was only fit that the US delegation clinched more than 20 business deals with Indian companies worth over $10 billion that, as Obama emphasized for the benefit of his audiences back home, will create nearly 50,000 American jobs.
Clearly, this once one-sided economic equation has undergone a dramatic transformation with India now investing back in the world’s largest economy. So the most important and productive business on Obama’s agenda was concluded on the day one of his 3-day visit to the land of Gandhi, who is said to have inspired the first black president.
However, as the leader of the reigning superpower, Obama cannot altogether skirt the hot-button issues and problems in the region. While the US has over the past few years supported India as a counterweight to China, it shares a long and enduring, even if uneasy, relationship with Pakistan. It can’t be held hostage to the US equation with India. 
During this trip, India is sure to push Obama to take a tougher line with Pakistan on militant, pro-Kashmir groups. While Obama may not mind pushing Pakistan, it is unlikely he will take up Islamabad’s concerns on Kashmir with New Delhi. It’s hardly a secret that groups like Lashkar have long exploited the plight of Kashmiris to fill and multiply their ranks and target India.
Over the past few months, political situation in the Kashmir Valley has fast deteriorated with more than a hundred young protesters dying in police firing. So it’s not a bad idea if Obama could help the neighbors talk and resolve this long-festering conflict.