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COVER
STORY: THE US TRIP
Few
Expectations
A truncated
itinerary, a prime minister wanting a respite and a president on his way
out conspire to make the much vaunted visit a zero sum gain
By
Raj Chengappa
Will
he? Won't he? Few Indian prime ministerial visits to the US have been
marked by so much uncertainty. Usually such summit meetings are planned
months in advance and the preparations are even more detailed than those
of an Indian marriage ceremony. But with barely five months elapsing since
President Bill Clinton made a cheery touchdown at Delhi, A.B. Vajpayee's
"swap" visit to the US was always in danger of being a non-event.
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| Vajpayee's
"swap" visit to the US was always in danger of being a non-event
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Last
week, with Vajpayee's arthritic knees playing up there was even a possibility
that he would pull out altogether from the trip on health grounds. The
prime minister was said to be so inclined and the suggestion also found
favour in Ministry of External Affairs circles. But senior cabinet colleagues
and his partymen persuaded him to go on the trip. In deference to the
prime minister's wishes, the visit was truncated by two days and his official
meetings were cut down by a third. Excised was his much tom-tommed visit
to Silicon Valley-meant to reinforce India's gathering clout in information
technology. "It would have been nothing but a historic visit,"
moaned Kailash Joshi, president-elect of the Indo-US Entrepreneurs which
had organised a major do over lunch at Stanford University.
 The
prime minister also opted for a working holiday on his New York leg. Earlier
the mea had hoped to fix meetings with at least a dozen heads of states
attending the UN Millennium Summit. But these have been pared down. His
speech at the UN, restricted to just five minutes, is unlikely to unfurl
any major Indian initiative as say the late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi
did for disarmament. His other major appointment at New York is an address
to the Asia Society. And he spends the rest of the six days at the Big
Apple, basically resting and mingling with important NRIs and friends.
It is Washington
dc that may strain his aching knees. If at all the prime minister agreed
to go to the US it was because he didn't want to offend the Clintons who
had gone to unusual lengths to show the importance they attached to the
visit. Apart from bestowing Vajpayee with the privilege of addressing
both houses of Congress, Clinton is also personally hosting a banquet
for Vajpayee. First Lady Hillary is flying down from New York, where she
is a senatorial candidate, just to play hostess. With Vice-President Al
Gore too hosting a lunch for Vajpayee, his advisers thought it wise to
keep the date. Especially with Gore's chances brightening in the presidential
poll to be held later this year.
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