By Jit Kumar

    NEW DELHI, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- A day after India officially announced that it has no complaints for not finding a mention in U.S. President Barack Obama's new Afghan-Pakistan policy speech, speculation is doing the rounds in the corridors of political arena that New Delhi may not be "pleased" after all and feeling "left out".

    Political analysts claimed that India feels it's "left out" for not being mentioned in Obama's policy speech, even as the U.S. has said its core goal is disrupting, dismantling and defeating terror networks in Afghanistan and Pakistan, an aspiration it shares very much with New Delhi.

    "Though the Indian External Affairs Ministry has officially denied being feeling left out, the fact is that many are unhappy about the country's name not getting a mention in President Obama's speech. India is a power center in South Asia and U.S. should have again acknowledged it in its new Afghan-Pakistan policy speech," political analyst Ajay Singh said.

    Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor Wednesday said "India is not complaining at all" with the new U.S. policy towards Afghanistan.

    "American abbreviation for their policy is Af-Pak and I see India in neither of those two abbreviations. Afghanistan and Pakistan are the focus of this policy and focus of President Obama's speech," he said.

    "What you are overlooking is that our Prime Minister has just been there. He received a pretty thorough exposition of the U.S. views on the issue and President Obama called him up in Delhi yesterday to brief him further before his public speech in the U.S.," the official added.

    Tharoor also said that India was making contribution in Afghanistan in a different way by building roads, hospitals, clinics and laying down power supply lines there.

    But another political analyst S.K. Singh disagreed.

    "No, that is not so. India has the right to feel displeased. If you take it in real sense, India has been literally left out. Officially India may say that it has no complaints about it, but the Foreign Office must be feeling otherwise. It's quite natural," he said.

    "The day President Obama announced sending of 30,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan with an aim of defeating the Taliban, the U.S. envoy to India claimed that India and America must unite in commitment of civilian resources and provide the tools for economic development and humanitarian aid to eliminate the extremist violence. The speech was meant as a damage control," said the analyst.

    The U.S. Ambassador to India Timothy J. Roemer said that India is a "key, global partner of the United States"

    "We value the positive role India continues to play in the region, including its significant humanitarian contributions to Afghanistan Our nations share a common goal -- to see a world free of the global terrorism that threatens our people where they worship, live, work, and study," said the envoy.

    Political analyst Ravi Dawa said the U.S. will have to let India play a bigger role in Afghanistan in the future.

    "New Delhi didn't find a place in Obama's speech. It's surprising as the U.S. knows that it has to keep India in confidence because it's a major power in South Asia. But, India also tackled the issue diplomatically very well by shrugging off rumors it's feeling left out. In the long run, the U.S. just can't afford to ignore India when it comes to Pakistan and Afghanistan," he said.