British PM in India: whos the master now?

When the British came to the Indian sub-continent in 18th century, the British Empire was looking for a resource boom. Today, as the British PM David Cameron visits India, the British economy is looking for another kind of boom: service exports.
Of the many differences between then and now, is that in the 1700s the empire was dealing from a position of strength, the gun-powder strength, whereas today the British PM dealt from a position of relative weakness - requiring the efforts of an eager salesman - ready to please its buyer with all kinds of extra gift hampers - such as bashing Pakistan for allegedly looking both ways.
Included, in one of the biggest UK delegation in living memory were five cabinet ministers, two ministers of state, more than 50 FTSE firms chief executive officers and even sports stars.
And for a maiden visit, Camerons efforts seem to have paid off - especially considering that last year the then UK foreign secretary David Miliband had ticked off Indians after he linked Mumbai attacks to Indian atrocities in Kashmir.
The main deal, worth nearly £700 million, was inked between military majors Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and UKs BAE Systems for 57 Hawk jet trainers. The final order is to be issued in August and the plane deliveries will start from 2013 through 2016, HALs Chairman, Mr Ashok Nayak, is reported to have said.
In other talks, Britain and India also discussed options for setting up a £2.4 million fund to develop joint-research by UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Indian Bhabha Atomic Research Centre.
Britain has also decided to export its nuclear technology and expertise to India for the first time despite the fact that India is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and that UKs Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defence have traditionally opposed the move over concerns that the technology might leak into Indias military programme.
In other moves to woo Indian businesses a "CEOs forum" was also proposed to be set up to facilitate links between the UK and India, whereas, in a departure from conventional domestic policymaking, Britain said it will consider consulting India on its proposed permanent immigration cap on non-EU workers.
Will Camerons overtures work or not is too early to guesstimate. Still, there are reasons to be sceptical.
The UK wants more market access for its key GDP driver, i.e. export services like banking, insurance etc. But it faces a hesitant India that is known to have opened its market at its own pace, as and when it deems fit. So its not that Indians would suddenly start welcoming British services with open arms.
On the other hand, India wants an Indian-friendly UK immigration policy - something which Cameron might not be able to deliver given the possible backlash at home - over his proposal to consult India in the making of UKs immigration policy.
India would also want Britain to further pressurise Pakistan. But after the diplomatic faux pas last week, Britain just might not able to pull off the same stunt time and again - at least until the US, UKs contemporary guru, doesn come out with open criticism against Pakistan.
Then of course there is the US-India nexus, which has been growing stronger for many years. The US has been opening its gates for Indian entrepreneurs much before the UK, and it has also been at the forefront in recognising India as a soon-to-be major player at the world stage.
Indian diaspora in the US is known to be more active than in the UK. In fact, the inclination of Indians towards the US can be gauged by the fact that when Indian economist Amartya Sen moved from Harvard to Cambridge, Indian critics described the move as one from powerhouse to a museum.
Indeed, turning this perception around would perhaps be Camerons biggest task in the months ahead.