US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's remarks that “growing Indian and Chinese appetite is contributing to the global food crisis” are unwanted. President George W. Bush also put responsibility for the rise in global food prices on India. These remarks remind us of the famous fable of the failure of a fox to reach over hanging grapes and after retreating it said: “The grapes are sour anyway.” Both Bush and Rice are unhappy with India for many reasons; the major one is Manmohan Singh government's delay in finalizing the nuclear deal. In October, Rice warned Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee that time was running out. Last year powerful American representatives - Henry Paulson, Treasury Secretary, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, former Ambassador to India Frank Wisner - visited India to convince the political opposition by addressing seminars and business fora and meeting political leaders from all parties. Secondly, US seems not happy with Iranian President Ahmedinajad's recent visit to India. Uncle Sam is not happy with India and its leaders are behaving like a cat in the famous Persian idiom who calls a meat stinking when it could not eat the same. More such remarks are bound to come in the coming days. Mohammed Abdul Waheed Riyadh __
