The Bush administration and Congress rewrote American and international rules to allow India  a longtime nuclear scofflaw  to buy fuel and technology for its civilian nuclear program. It was supposed to be the start of a beautiful new friendship. So we are eager to see what happens when Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visits India over the next few days.

The two democracies can do a lot to deepen their relationship, including negotiating an investment treaty. India is expected to use the visit to announce plans to construct as many as 10 new nuclear power plants that will be open to bidding by American companies.

But it is time for India to take more responsibility internationally. It needs to do more to revive the world trade talks it helped torpedo last year and  as a major contributor to global warming  to join the developed countries in cutting greenhouse gas emissions. And it needs to do a lot more to constrain its arms race with Pakistan and global proliferation.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his party have a strong mandate after the May elections. And the country has weathered the global recession better than most. That means that it has no excuses not to do more.