Unease in India-U.S. relations as Holbrooke arrives

By Krittivas Mukherjee

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke will meet Indian officials on Wednesday amid concern in New Delhi that Washington's new regional strategy for Afghanistan is pandering to its old foe Pakistan.

The trip by Holbrooke, special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, is his first to India since President Barack Obama announced plans to boost troop numbers in Afghanistan, while helping Pakistan with more military and non-military aid.

Holbrooke, along with Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, will meet Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon on Wednesday.

India is uneasy that Obama's strategy fails to reflect its concerns about what New Delhi sees as Pakistan's backing of militants, analysts and government officials say.

There are also concerns that Pakistan wants a solution to disputed Kashmir as an element of any regional peace efforts, a condition that India rejects.

"They think if a dialogue begins, that itself will be a move forward," an Indian government official said. "But this will only be a listening brief for us. We really aren't interested unless our concerns are addressed."

Many Indian analysts and officials worry Washington is biased toward helping Pakistan -- an old U.S. ally -- rather than India, which only in recent years moved closer to the United States.

"The U.S. is more receptive to Pakistan's concerns, which is worrying India," said Bharat Karnad of the Centre for Policy Research, a New Delhi-based independent strategic think-tank.