Is the US upset with Manmohan Singh? The prime minister is going to the US with his entourage this September 25. The Indian politicos got a little hot under the collar preparing for the trip when they were told by the American administration and the White House that the US President Barack Obama will not be available to meet the Indian prime minister during this tour of his to the country. After a lot of coaxing and cajoling, Obama agreed to meet Manmohan for 15 minutes during lunch. Actually, the US is miffed for two reasons more than anything else. One, it feels that India’s new National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon is more pro-China and anti-US. Two, the US feels that the kind of eagerness that was shown during UPA-I regarding the nuclear deal is now on the backburner during the UPA-II regime. The deal may have gotten a formal go-ahead but the UPA-II is not making any attempts to execute it. For a few days, the US has started to openly show its displeasure. For instance, Obama spoke to Russia and China about the Syria matter but didn’t think it deemed any merit to speak to India about it. Forget Obama, there was not even a phone call from the state secretary to the Indian administration. America’s real reason to be angry with India is giving importance to other countries rather than the US when it comes to trade. In the recent defence deals, India has given priority to countries such as France, Germany and Israel rather than the US. We bought far more aircraft from the French Company Airbus than American company Boeing. There have been bilateral trade agreements with China and India is making attempts to improve its relations with Russia. These are issues that the US can’t get its head around.