India-US ties at all-time high, but India is “unaware” of key proposed alliance?

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Here's what you missed on Glee (South Asia):

Asif's mad 'cause Barack's gang shot up Pakistan and Barack won't apologize, so it looks like they might break up. 

Hu's not talking to Manmohan because somebody said Manmohan like-likes the Dalai Lama, so it looks like they might break up.

And Barack's friend Will told Manmohan's friend Nirupama that Barack really likes Manmohan, so they might be getting together.

But Manmohan's friends say he doesn't know about the party in Australia, and he's not sure about the idea of a party that's all about not inviting Hu.

So what's the deal with the BFF mystery?

Just as Pakistan is threatening to take its toys and go home, leaving the US to find another route for its supplies into Afghanistan, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns is doling out the love for India in generous portions.  At a curtain-raiser speech for an expected visit to India later this month, he went as far as to say the India-US relationship is better than ever.  "America and India have reached a moment of great opportunity…. our two countries can shape for the better of not only the future of our own societies but of the entire international community and the new century unfolding before us," Burns said, according to India's Economic Times newspaper.

But as Obama puts out additional feelers for his reboot of America's Asia policy (Take Back Asia, I'm calling it), India is playing at least a wee bit hard to get in the midst of a spat with China over this week's world Buddhist conference in New Delhi, according to the Indian Express.

Amid reports that Australia has given the thumbs up to a proposal for a trilateral security dialogue with India and US, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday said India was unaware of any proposal on trilateral pact with US and Australia.

“We have seen media reports about the comments attributed to Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd on a possible three-way economic and security pact with the US and India. We are not aware of any such proposal,” said MEA official spokesperson Vishnu Prakash.

Rudd on Wednesday had said a trilateral security pact was worth exploring because ‘from little things big things grow’. In an interview with the Australian Financial Review newspaper, he said: “The response from the Indian government has really been quite positive.”
 

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