The influence of the continuing anti-American sentiments in India, dating from the Cold War days, was very much in evidence before and during US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit.

Even before she arrived, this lobby noted the suspected American efforts to undermine the India-US nuclear deal by persuading the G8 to deny to India the enrichment and reprocessing technologies, which had earlier passed muster at the meetings of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) on the deal.

While some doubts remain about this ban although the Americans have clarified that it does not apply to India, more criticism has been voiced by the lobby about the end-use monitoring of American military supplies. The claim by the ruling Congress that such monitoring was in force earlier when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was in power hasn't dissuaded the critics.

A third issue that has energised the anti-American group may not be directly related to the secretary of state's visit, but Washington's hidden hand has been seen in what BJP leader L.K. Advani has described as 'capitulation' by India to Pakistan during the recent talks between the two countries at Sharm el-Sheikh.

The cumulative impact of this posturing has been to put the Manmohan Singh government very much on the defensive. Within weeks, therefore, of its comfortable election victory, the Congress and its government are running for cover on two of the most sensitive issues for the Indian public - relations with America and those with Pakistan.

On both counts, the Indian position has been likened to a sell-out. The government hasn't helped its cause by blaming poor drafting for the misgivings on the Sharm el-Sheikh document. As a result, the opposition has regained its voice after a period of quiet whimpering following its electoral reverses.

This dramatic change in the political atmosphere is not surprising. Ever since the Cold War, the US has been regarded politically with disapproval in India. The reason was not only its so-called arrogant Ugly American image but also its pronounced tilt in favour of Pakistan which reached its peak during the Bangladesh war. The US, too, was not overly fond of India because of the latter's closeness to the Soviet Union.

The outcome of the years of mutual dislike was the strengthening of the anti-American lobby comprising not only the leftists, although they were its mainstay, but also influential sections of the Congress and the so-called socialist parties, which have now become a part of the various Janata outfits.

What is curious about this knee-jerk attitude is that it is generally believed to pay political dividends. This is apparently the reason why the BJP has now joined this group although it was the only party during its Jana Sangh days that was not diffident about being supportive of both the US and capitalism. For years, this was its main difference from the supposedly pro-Soviet and socialistic Congress.