NEW DELHI, MARCH 19: Less than two years after the United States reacted with unprecedented anger and bitterness over India's nuclear tests, President Clinton arrived here Sunday night to a warm welcome, on a five-day visit that is expected to set the course for new relationship between the world's oldest and largest democracies.At exactly 8.08 pm, the President's plane, Air Force One, touched down at Palam technical area, having been escorted into the Capital by Indian Air Force jets from the time it entered Indian airspace.External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, the Govenment's key strategist in the Indo-US dialogue over the last couple of years, pulled a surprise by deciding to go to the airport and receive the President. So far it had been announced that only Minister of State for External Affairs Ajit Panja would be doing the honours.Government sources stressed Singh was not breaking protocol, pointing out that former prime minister Deve Gowda had not only gone to the airport to receive Chinese President Jiang Zemin in 1996, but was also there to see him off to his onward journey to Pakistan.Clinton came down the steps of his plane with his daughter Chelsea by his side and his mother-in-law Dorothy Rodham some distance behind, smiling and waving to a huge crowd of waiting journalists from the national and international media.Besides Jaswant Singh, he was received by Ajit Panja - who gave him a bouquet of flowers - Foreign Secretary Lalit Mansingh and India's Ambassador to the US Naresh Chandra.Observers said the US President seemed ``very friendly and relaxed'' as he shook hands with the Indian line-up, shaking hands with each person and spending a few minutes. ``He didn't seem to be in a hurry to move on and rush to his hotel,'' one witness said, clearly charmed by the President's cheerful and friendly manner. Courteously, he put his mother-in-law into the waiting car to take them to the Maurya hotel, his daughter and then himself.The unprecedented security at the airport did not convert the occasion into a stilted one, witnesses said. Clinton was accompanied by his Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott, national security adviser Sandy Berger, White House Chief of Staff John Podesta, Commerce Secretary William Daley and other senior staff. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright arrived later Sunday night in another aircraft.A few minutes later, the President's motorcade reached Maurya Sheraton Hotel where Clinton and his entourage are put up.Indian Ambassador Naresh Chandra told reporters at the airport, ``It is a great event and beginning of a new relationship. We hope to have a purposeful dialogue.''Hours before his arrival, some extreme Left and non-governmental organisations burnt his effigies protesting against American ``imperialist'' attitude.
