The good thing is that we are now becoming allied with the right country. BHO has not done as much as Bush did for this but I had no expectations that he would. At least he has not done damage here as he’s done elsewhere. If both sides keep their eyes on the prize, the US-India relationship is a 100 year friendship in the making.
I appreciate your sentiments but I don't quite share your enthusiasm. Its not that I am against an alliance with the US. Its just that my optimism about US-India alliance is much more tempered. And there are several reasons why I believe US-India alliance is a non-starter. During Bush there was enormous naive excitement among Indians and Indian media about an emerging strategic alliance because of many shared values and global concerns especially because of events post 9/11 and emergence of Chinese economic rise.
As a person of Indian origin I have lived in US long enough to know that excitement is silly and naive. I am not disillusioned, I am just being realistic. Fact number one is there is absolutely no awareness among general American public or media about the value and importance of India either strategical or economically. In fact the mention of India among public and media (especially during election campaigns) conjures a very negative image, that of “outsourcing” and “job loss”, not that of a Strategic ally. When you talk about UK everyone already knows about the “Special Relationship”. US politicians don't have to go out and rediscover UK each time they get elected like they have to do with India. Talking about India's importance.....India already has a larger navy then UK....(and its not even worth comparing land forces). In this decade India will go past Japan from being 4th largest GDP(PPP) to third largest (at $4 trillion, nearly twice that of UK). And in three more years India will be the 4th country in the world to send a man to space.
Except for a handful of knowledgeable people, most American policy makers are absolutely clueless about India. They still look at India through an India-Pakistan prism and talk about “balanced relationship”..... a sign of how clueless America is. Its not Obama or the democrats but republicans too....in fact more so. Conservative republicans still harbor a flawed cold war perspective on India..... as quite event on this thread and many others. And democrats have other rants against India.
In other words, where there is not total ignorance about India there is actually a huge negative support base against India. And that is not likely to in another Presidential election.