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THE NATION:
VAJPAYEE IN US
India
Is No Longer 'Incidental'
In
terms of sheer atmospherics, the Washington leg of Vajpayee's US yatra
was a spectacular success. Much of the credit for that must go to Clinton
who was keen to return the generous hospitality he got during his India
visit last March. In lauding India as "a leader in our community
of democracies, reminding the world that freedom is not a western value
but a universal longing", he implicitly injected a pronounced India
bias in the US' South Asian policy. In a sharp break with the past, Clinton
projected India as an emerging global power rather than as a rival to
Pakistan. He laid the foundations of a policy reassessment whereby India
was no longer viewed as incidental.
That Delhi
and Washington were heading for a new chemistry was clear from the pronouncements
of senior officials in the administration. Assistant Secretary of State
Karl Inderfurth admitted the redefinition of US priorities. "We believe
that the hyphenated relationship of always referring to these two countries
(India and Pakistan) is no longer appropriate ... A decision was taken
by the President to try to build a new relationship with India ... I think
he has gone very far in changing estranged democracies to engaged democracies."
Added Senior Director, Near and South Asian Affairs Bruce Reidel: "The
visit was another step in the process of moving this relationship to a
higher plateau."
Granted the
climb to a "higher plateau" was an exhilarating experience,
the question arises: Did the visit produce anything more tangible? Critics
insist that the balance sheet of the visit wasn't anything to go gaga
about. Despite Vajpayee's near-obsessive preoccupation with cross-border
terrorism, India couldn't get Pakistan declared a terrorist state, failed
in its bid to even get the Lashkar-e-Toiba categorised as a terrorist
organisation and, in terms of investment, only succeeded in negotiating
three power projects.
Indian diplomats
contest these assertions. They point out that the Indo-US joint declaration
was silent on Kashmir and the signing of the ctbt as a precondition for
the lifting of sanctions against India. In fact, the Clinton Administration
has already restored some of the grants and loans to Indian industry.
In addition, the US has agreed to institutionalise consultations with
India on Afghanistan, a process that would implicitly bring the jehad
launched by Pakistan under closer scrutiny.
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