Friends of Bob -- aka US Ambassador Robert Blackwill's Indian supporters -- are worried that India's refusal to send troops to Iraq may affect his chances to don the mantle of US deputy national security adviser after his tenure in Delhi ends tomorrow, sources told rediff.com
The American embassy in New Delhi, the sources said, is disconcerted by its projections -- that India would send troops to Iraq -- going awry, particularly about 'reading' Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani incorrectly.
The US state department, the sources added, is said to be unhappy by Blackwill's "over-confidence in his ability" to persuade India's political leadership to send troops to Iraq.
Some of Blackwill's adversaries in Washington, DC believe he over-projected his proximity to Advani, the sources said.
It is well-known in New Delhi that Blackwill was close to Advani; in an interview to rediff.com the deputy prime minister admitted as much.
"He (Blackwill) would not say it, but by and large he agreed with my view that what America is doing is encouraging Pakistan to continue with its policy to support terrorism. He will not say it. Unka shuru se lekar White House se rapport tha, state department se nahin tha. (He had a rapport with the White House, not with the State Department.)," Advani had told rediff.com.
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