McCain’s speech fully justified India’s enthusiasm for him. He calls for India’s membership of the G-8 group of industrialised countries (at the expense of Russia, though) and hopes to put India at the very centre of the “league of market democracies” that he hopes to build.

McCain’s positive view of India contrasts with his emphasis on conditional cooperation with China. “Until China moves toward political liberalisation, our relationship will be based on periodically shared interests rather than the bedrock of shared values”.

If Bush broke the paradigm of Indo-Pak parity, it will be New Delhi’s hope that McCain might elevate India above China in America’s worldview.

The writer is professor, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore iscrmohan@ntu.edu.sg