India is the object of increasing U.S. attention as evidenced by the president 's recent visit to that country. Long range U.S. geopolitical strategy in Asia is aimed at China. A series of military bases is in place and being built that will effectively encircle China. India is emerging as a key component of U.S. plans. New Delhi has not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty. To lure it into the U.S. orbit, Bush OK'd a questionable deal to allow India to expand its nuclear weapons arsenal. Iran, which is an NPT signatory, and has no nuclear weapons, is being treated by quite a different standard. To further complicate matters and heighten tension, Washington is trying to prevent New Delhi from making energy deals with Iran and Syria. Not everyone in India is keen to participate in the coming power play to yoke the country to the U.S. grand design for Asia.

Siddharth Varadarajan (Vah-rah-der-rah-jen) is one of India's leading journalists. He is deputy editor of The Hindu, one of India's most prestigious daily newspapers. He formerly reported for The Times of India. He is editor of the book, Gujarat: The Making of a Tragedy.