It is a curious fact of history that India, the world's largest democracy, and the U.S., the world's most powerful democracy, have more often than not been at loggerheads since India's independence in 1947. It is true that India sent thousands of troops to fight alongside Americans during the 1950-53 Korean War. But it is also true that India virtually invented the nonaligned movement during the Cold War, and its chosen path of neutrality greatly irked the U.S. An atmosphere of mutual distaste grew, with Secretary of State John Foster Dulles calling India's neutrality "immoral."

In the years that followed, India tilted increasingly toward the Soviet Union, especially as Pakistan became America's chosen partner in South Asia, despite Pakistan's drift in and out of military dictatorships. The U.S. saw Pakistan as a bulwark against communism, while for decades India saw Washington's increasingly close relations with Islamabad as deeply misconceived and fundamentally anti-Indian.

Times have changed, and so has the world. This week, President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama hosted a glittering state dinner for India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife, Gursharan Kaur. The guest list of more than 300 was so big that the dinner was held under a huge improvised tent on the south lawn of the White House. The meal was vegetarian in deference to the Indian prime minister. It was also the Obamas' first state dinner, and it was not by accident that it was given in honor of the prime minister of India, a point noted extensively by the Indian press.

During his recent eight-day Asian tour, Obama referred to himself as America's first "Pacific President." In fact, I would suggest he is America's first "Asian president." Japan, of course, remains the world's second biggest economy. But it will soon be eclipsed by China, already recognized as a new great power. Thus two of the world's three biggest economies will be Asian, and India, with 1.2 billion people, is not too far behind. Then too, President Obama spent part of his childhood in Indonesia, acquiring a sensibility and awareness of Asia at a very early age. Europe, traditionally the region of greatest U.S. interest and involvement, now seems to be of lesser interest. The selection last week of two relatively unknown figures to be the first president of the European Union and the first foreign policy chief sent a signal to Washington that Europe as Europe still can't seem to get its act together. In the meantime, China and India are rising quickly to the forefront.

There has been speculation recently that India was growing alarmed at what seemed to be U.S. preoccupation with China, India's rival in Asia. That alarm may have been put to rest with the state dinner for the Indian prime minister and the warm reception given him by President Obama. There is a great deal of concern in Washington that China is by far America's biggest creditor, holding more than $800 billion in U.S. debt. At the same time, India is the primary power in the Indian Ocean area, and the Indian ocean, the world's third biggest, is of enormous strategic importance to the U.S. Because of their rapid economic growth, and their growing dependence on imported sources of energy, such as coal and oil, both India and China are focusing on sea power as a way to ensure those supplies. India will soon have the world's third largest navy, trailing only the U.S. and China. The job of managing this new naval rivalry falls to the U.S. Navy, already down from more than 600 surface ships at the end of the Cold War to some 300 at the present time. The Indian Ocean touches on most of the Muslim world, from the troubled shores of Somalia, Yemen and Iran to the far distant shores of Indonesia. Even today, notes Robert Kaplan in Foreign Affairs, "90 percent of global commerce and about 65 percent of all oil travel by sea. Globalization has been made possible by the cheap and easy shipping of containers on tankers, and the Indian Ocean accounts for fully half the world's container traffic ... 70 percent of the total traffic of petroleum products passes through the Indian ocean." That's why the U.S. Navy is there in force.

There has been speculation recently that India was growing alarmed at what seemed to be U.S. preoccupation with China, India's rival in Asia. That alarm may have been put to rest with the state dinner for the Indian prime minister and the warm reception given him by President Obama. There is a great deal of concern in Washington that China is by far America's biggest creditor, holding more than $800 billion in U.S. debt. At the same time, India is the primary power in the Indian Ocean area, and the Indian ocean, the world's third biggest, is of enormous strategic importance to the U.S. Because of their rapid economic growth, and their growing dependence on imported sources of energy, such as coal and oil, both India and China are focusing on sea power as a way to ensure those supplies. India will soon have the world's third largest navy, trailing only the U.S. and China. The job of managing this new naval rivalry falls to the U.S. Navy, already down from more than 600 surface ships at the end of the Cold War to some 300 at the present time. The Indian Ocean touches on most of the Muslim world, from the troubled shores of Somalia, Yemen and Iran to the far distant shores of Indonesia. Even today, notes Robert Kaplan in Foreign Affairs, "90 percent of global commerce and about 65 percent of all oil travel by sea. Globalization has been made possible by the cheap and easy shipping of containers on tankers, and the Indian Ocean accounts for fully half the world's container traffic ... 70 percent of the total traffic of petroleum products passes through the Indian ocean." That's why the U.S. Navy is there in force.

But in the immediate short term, the U.S. needs India as an ally as it fights a war in Afghanistan. India has been a major player in that country for many years, even in the days of the British Raj. Pakistan, however, fears India as its mortal enemy. This is another balancing act for the U.S. A glittering state dinner in Washington is an indication that the U.S. has at last come down on the right side.