when indian prime ministers visit the us they make big headlines in india but very small ones or none at all in the us that should put manmohan singhs visit in perspective india today occupies only a tiny corner of the us radar screen however making even a blip is an achievementten years ago india was not on the screen at all it has now arrived thanks partly to 911 but mainly to indian success in computer software bpo and rd these service industries suddenly make india look worldclass threatening millions of whitecollar jobs in the us and european economy that is feared is automatically respected once seen as a bottomless pit for foreign aid india is now seen as a rising new economic powerthis is why us secretary of state condoleezza rice declared during her recent visit that the us wanted to help india become a global power that sounds great but cynics argue that this is mere flattery to divert indian attention from us sales of f16 fighters to pakistanthe prime minister has said on the eve of his washington trip that india is no more a supplicant and seeks to be a partner of the us it is true that india no longer begs on its knees for aid as it did in the 1960s yet on most issues dr singh will be asking rather than givingfor the us good relations with india are useful but not essential for india good relations are crucial india may like to pose as partner rather than supplicant but it will be a very unequal partnershipdr singh will ask a lot of the us yet have little to give india can present itself as a force for stability in an unstable region breeding islamic militants it can also be an asian counterforce to china in limited ways but it cannot offer the us military bases at most it can offer its help in lowend security operations like escorting ships through the straits of malacca the list of what dr singh will be seeking from the us is much longer and runs like thisl membership of un security council india along with germany japan and brazil seeks a general assembly vote to admit them bush will tell dr singh that the us favours india but not the others and that security council expansion must be linked to comprehensive un reformsl membership of london club of nuclear suppliers india seeks formal acceptance as a responsible npower that wants to prevent proliferation the us wont agree formal membership would mean lifting curbs on nuclear supplies to india and giving up the longstanding us demand that india sign the nptl us equipment and knowhow for indias npower plants rice spoke of nuclear cooperation however the london club makes supplies contingent on india placing all nuclear facilities including defencerelated ones under international safeguards india absolutely refuses it proposes safeguards only on new facilities created with foreign assistance the impasse will not easily be resolved even if