I'd say India was / is a founding member of the Anglosphere, what with the Empire / Commonwealth .

Look forward to China doing something to tweak us with NK in a little bit. India has the potential to pass China as the economic beheamoth of the area. China will have issues with trade that will anger both sides of the political aisle in Washington while India flies under the radar. A very interesting devlopment.

In a recent survey, the overwhelming majority of India's citizens expressed a favorable opinion of the United States, with half believing that Bush is a good leader.

Of course, that didn't stop MSN and some other mainstream media outlets from highlighting their coverage yesterday with 'Thousands protest Bush in India' headlines.

The emerging alliance with India is one of the smartest and most significant things the Bush foreign policy team has done, so naturally it's one of the most under-reported stories of this administration.

I tend to agree with Clay that India is, if not a founding member, at least a major player in the Anglosphere. But some of the founding members have been acting awfully European of late (Canada and the UK, especially Scotland), so it's nice to see a move in the direction of cohesion instead of fragmentation.

Hey folks.....I am usually a lurker here . I'll make it brief. The 'Thousands protest Bush in India' headlines should be read as 'Thousands of muslims and a smattering of communists protest Bush in India'.

Trust me , if the protestors were hindu , chants of 'Death to America' and 'Bush Dog' wouldn't have been accompanied by pious cries of 'Allahu Akbar'.

These gentlemen cannot be seen as representative of India - until and unless demographics in India have changed overnight and muslims now constitute 95% of India's population.

By the way - majority of the people of India , who still remain hindu and non-commie - love Bush. Great chap. And with this nuclear deal , he is presently the most popular guy in India......bigger than any rock star or Bollywood star.

And he will be visiting my old B-School in Hyderabad , the Indian School of Business tomorrow. Only wish I was there. Would have asked him about his days at Harvard.

Raj, that is gratifying to hear. It is unfortunate that the media here is so willing to publicize any bad news about the President that they allow themselves to be used by such fringe protest groups. Too many average U.S. citizens think Bush is hated everywhere. I am very encouraged by the cooperation between our countries and believe history will look at this deal as a landmark moment.

I also can't help but consider the parallels between Bush and Ronald Reagan, another man who was hated by the left. Like our sitting President, Reagan was regarded as either an evil warmonger or a doddering fool by his critics, and protesters greeted him at every stop (dutifully captured by the media). Not many noticed at the time that he was laying the groundwork for communism's historic collapse.

Glad to hear from you Raj.
Aside from the China angle, both the US and India have suffered attacks from Muslim terrorists. It's always nice to have a billion people on your side.
Of course, for a contrary view the latest Gwen Dyer column is out (can't find in on the web anywhere, only on dead trees) and apparently there is a sinister plot to have closer military ties between the US and India that will only provoke China. It is begging for a fisking, Will and/or Stephen. (hint, hint)

10 thousand protest Bush? Bah! More people gather to watch when a cow upsets a hawker's handcart on an Indian Street!
Bush's approval is at 40% in US, v/s 54% in India. That coupled with our population being more that thrice that of US means we have much more Bush fans than entire US population! We love him because we are a pragmatic bunch who can cut through the PC/lefty/dhimmi cr@p and see who is fighting the good fight.

I can hear Ahmadinerjacket's cock feathers ruffling as we speak.

This deal with India is a good thing. It's nice to know that there are those out there, who *get it*.

Esteemed guests from India - I won't say I've been Indian-ignorant, but I do confess to paying MUCH mmore attention to India since we inked our military alliance last year.

I also work in IT, so you imagine how prominent India is in *that* regard .

I am *so* enthused by the last several years' developments where the US and India are concerned. I hope that India and the US will be a good friends as the US and UK are, and by extension, the UK and India are.

There is little reason we can not be friendly with both India nd China as the both grow. While they are both trading and manufacturing rivals, the are insulated from eachother by the Himalaya mountains. Like a great ocean, it provides a economic buffer. Each has to compete for international resources, yet neither is in a position covet the others resources or territory. Even their home-markets are effectivly insulated from each other...unlike France vis-a-vis Germnany or Poland.

And both have the potential to merge into the Anglosphere in their own fashion...it is not a zero-sum game...and to develop "special relationships" with the US, Australia and the rest of the Anglosphere.

Contrast between Bush's and Clinton's visit to India

Hey folks.....I am usually a lurker here . I'll make it brief. The 'Thousands protest Bush in India' headlines should be read as 'Thousands of muslims and a smattering of communists protest Bush in India'.
-Raj Mehta

Communists protesting for a US President.... ah, that brings back memories. Good memories.

May Bush to do Islamic fundamentalism what Reagan did to Communism.

:-)

TEd - I hope you are correct. The one differance I can see is the need for China to deal with Taiwan. And the fact the Japanese don't trust Chinese at all nor do the Chinese trust the Japanese. India has this problem with Pakistan which means little until Pakistan figures out how to eliminate the islamofascists in their midst.