It was a media coup by Fareed Zakaria when he interviewed Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about 26/11, US-India relationship, his view on Pakistan and what he expects out of his visit to Washington this week. <video interview>

This was the first time the reserved and thoughtful Mr. Singh shared his views on 26/11 the, day Mumbai, India’s financial and entertainment capital, was attacked by 10 terrorists from Pakistan. This Thanksgiving weekend will mark the first anniversary of the attack on Mumbai. Besides the foreign policy and domestic issues, Mr Singh spoke about the importance of the economic development of India and how  if it succeeds the Indian economy could prove to be an International public good. Being a brilliant and lucid economist  and thinker, Mr. Singh laid out the assumptions that India needs to fulfill to succeed economically.  Some of these include cracking illiteracy and poverty. If these issues are cracked then India has a good chance of succeeding, which in turn could serve as an effective economic model for the poorer third world countries he said. Two-thirds of the world is still poor and they are dealing with similar issues Mr. Singh underscored.

Zakaria’s prelude and concluding remarks were rather telling. He pointed out that President Obama’s administration appears to be making a small series of fumbles in its South Asia policy, and seems to have adopted the world view of the Pakistani army, which is that Pakistan needs a pro-Pakistani government in Afghanistan. He added that the urgent is driving out the importance in the policy being pursued by the administration. The US would have missed an opportunity if it does not build on this opportunity he remarked.

What are Mr. Singh’s expectations of his visit to Washington? The ever-pragmatic economist turned politician apparently has none. Even though at a personal level Singh and Obama might get along swimmingly, when it comes to foreign policy each leader subscribes to their own national self-interests. That national self-interest might partially explain why the US government might (is) subscribe to the Pakistani Army’s world view in South Asia. Having two failed states in South Asia would destabilize the region and will not contribute to the success of USA’s Af-Pak policy. (Then there is China and the difference in the way the US and India deal with China. The Tibet question adds an interesting wrinkle to the whole issue.) But, does the success of Af-Pak policy require that India be sidelined as questioned some of the observers? Moving forward can the Obama administration fix the small fumbles in its South Asia policy that Zakaria spoke about?

India, as many observers have pointed out, has shown enormous reserve and restraint especially on 26/11. Hopefully President Obama’s administration does not miss this historical opportunity in effectively engaging with India.