President Obama's speech to the Indian Parliament contained a benign untruth: "In Asia and around the world, India is not simply emerging; India has already emerged."
As a statement of fact, this is dubious. India accounts for a little more than 2 percent of world GDP and basically can't project its power. As diplomatic flattery and as aspiration, though, Obama's line hit the mark.
After spending the early part of his administration kowtowing to China and neglecting India (the two weren't unrelated), Obama delivered on the first leg of his Asia trip. He forged closer ties to the robustly democratic nation of 1 billion people, partly as a hedge against the rise of a China resistant to his blandishments.
