Like a child attracted to shiny things, the West, in its age of economic senility, is increasingly getting attracted to the notion of shining India.
Four months ago, British PM David Cameron flew to Delhi along with more than 50 FTSE firms chief executive officers, which was dubbed as one of the biggest business delegations in memory.
But in retrospect, the Cameron delegation is dwarfed by that of US President Barack Obama, who took with him almost 250 US chief executives and senior corporate officials - the biggest ever delegation to accompany a president on a state visit.
UKs main deal with India was worth nearly £700 million ($1.12 billion), inked between military majors Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and UKs BAE Systems, for 57 Hawk jet trainers.
In contrast, Americas biggest sale is worth $4.1 billion: a preliminary agreement reached between Boeing and the Indian Air Force on the purchase of 10 C-17 Globemaster III military transport aircraft. The deal, that will make the Indian Air Force the largest owner of a fleet of C-17s outside of the US, will reportedly create 22,160 American jobs.
In another major agreement, the US Export-Import Bank and Reliance Power India signed a Memorandum-of-Understanding that will provide Anil Ambanis power group up to $5 billion to boost its electricity production.
These transactions are a part of the $15 billion worth of deals signed or committed between the worlds top two democracies that would support some 54,000 US jobs.
While the fact that Obama spent more time in India than any other foreign country since he became president is a statement in itself; his visit to other parts of Asia also shows how desperate he is to reduce pink slips back home.
And it makes perfect economic sense. Western economies are fading in the dawn of Asia; and the rise (or more appropriately, the return) of Asia to the global stage is something that can be ignored.
"Asia is home to three of the worlds five largest economies, as well as a rapidly expanding middle class with rising incomes," Obama wrote in a New York Times article published just before his departure for the 10-day visit to Asia, which includes Indonesia, South Korea and Japan.
But Obamas tour-de-Asia isn just about business; its also about some serious business: i.e. increasing Americas presence around China to make the latter feel uncomfortable in its own backyard, according to experts.
"Almost all Asian nations want America as the balancer and protector against an increasingly demanding Beijing," wrote Leslie Gelb, the president emeritus of Americas top foreign policy think tank Council on Foreign Relations, last week. He added that America has more commonality of interests and values with Asias three main democracies (India, Japan, and South Korea), than it has with China.
Obama urged India to promote democratic values in the region and "to be more vocal in criticizing the military regime" in Myanmar, where allegedly Chinas influence on the military dictatorship is growing. It appeared that on this pre-condition Obama supported Indias desire to join the UN Security Council as a permanent member in the years ahead.
Amid the shifting of these economic and political paradigms in the region, Pakistan, however, appears to be a bystander, despite sitting at the geographical cross junction of civilisations. Is there any leader around to turn Pakistans dynamic around; somebody, anybody?
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WHAT OBAMA SOLD TO INDIA
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Major sectors $ (bn)
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Military or commercial aircraft 7.6
Railway 1
Electricity 5.75
Mining and related 0.641
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Source: WSJ
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