While the Prime Minister’s statement to the Lok Sabha invited posterity and future generations to judge the value of the Indo-US deal on Civil-Nuclear Energy Cooperation, the timing and the tone of the statement reflected due concern for the judgement of the existing generation. In this he shares a dilemma that General Pervez Musharraf has faced in the last few years: how far is too far in cosying up to the US? Both Indian and Pakistani rulers have worried about public reaction to their ever-expanding engagements with the US. The Indian Express-Dawn News-CNN-IBN-CSDS poll quizzed a sample of urban Indians and Pakistanis to get a sense of how they view the US and its role in the region.

The good news for the Prime Minister is that among the urban Indians the supporters of the Indo-US deal clearly outnumber the opponents. Among the 2000-plus respondents interviewed in the 20 Indian cities, there were 20 per cent informed supporters (who had heard about and supported the deal) as against only 10 per cent informed opponents. Another 12 per cent offered indirect support, for they believe that the government is the best judge of foreign policy matters. At least in the big cities, the supporters of the deal outnumbered the opponents by three to one. This is so not just among Congress supporters but also among the BJP supporters. The less educated are no less supportive than the more educated, provided they know about this agreement. On this evidence, a political campaign against the deal may not hold out much promise in a country where foreign policy issues do not drive political preferences.

... contd.