NEW DELHI (AP) - Canberra has pledged the most; Washington didn't give enough in the beginning. China outdid archrival Taiwan by promising slightly more - and India doesn't want anything at all.

The geopolitics of humanitarian aid and financial pledges in response to the December 26 tsunami are being analysed as closely as the shifting tectonic plates beneath the Indian Ocean that set it off.

And like a bidding war at Sotheby's, nations are upping the ante of their generosity.

Germany trumped Japan on Wednesday, promising US$674 million (euro510 million) to Tokyo's US$500 million (euro378.1 million). An hour later, Australia topped that by pledging US$764 million (euro577.7 million), the day before world leaders meet in Jakarta to figure out how all that money should be spent.

Ngaire Woods, who teaches politics and international relations at the University College in Oxford, England, said countries may be scaling up their pledges to ensure the tsunami relief effort remains multilateral in nature, not dominated by just one nation.

"The crisis presents opportunities to countries and governments to consolidate their grip in the region," she said.
India, the third-hardest hit nation after Indonesia and Sri Lanka, had officially logged 9,675 bodies as of Wednesday, with another 6,000 missing and feared dead.

But New Delhi, a founder of the Nonaligned Movement of 116 mostly developing nations, now has one of the world's fastest-growing economies and is tired of being seen as crying poor. It has politely turned down the unprecedented offers of money and military might.

"We are not a basket case and we don't want to be seen as one," said G. Parthasarthy, India's former high commissioner to Pakistan. "The fact of the matter is, these are issues that we can manage ourselves and I don't think we should stretch the resources of the international community."
Other political forces may be at play, too.

Officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity said New Delhi contacted Colombo on Tuesday when it learned that two ships full of US Marines were steaming toward the island nation off its southern tip.

In the end, two of the three ships were diverted to Indonesia, the worst-hit nation where more than 100,000 people have been killed. US officials said the change in plans was made for no other reason than analysis of where aid was needed most.

India's foreign secretary Shyam Saran said his government was merely concerned about "proper coordination" in the region.

"I don't think there is any misunderstanding, or apprehensions in this respect," he said. "Delivery of relief should be efficient. We shouldn't get on each other's way."

India's US$23 million (euro17.39 million) relief package for Sri Lanka pales next to Washington's pledge of US$350 million (euro265 million) for the region, but it is New Delhi's largest grant ever, and more than the oil-rich United Arabs Emirates pledged.

Further south, Indonesians appear to be putting pride aside. American soldiers were welcomed Wednesday as they hauled food and water onto the battered island of Sumatra.

Stung by accusations that Washington wasn't doing enough, the government boosted its initial pledge of US$35 million (euro26.47 million) to US$350 million (euro264.67 million) and dispatched his brother, Gov Jeb Bush of Florida, and outgoing Secretary of State Colin Powell to the region.

Analysts said a successful relief effort in Indonesia could help boost Washington's sagging image among Muslims and set the stage for a resumption of military ties between the two countries.

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