Clinton visit may not result in lifting of sanctions

Stressing Clinton’s intention to “open a brand new chapter” in bilateral relations, the US envoy, however, went on to reiterate known positions on key issues such as Kashmir, which are more than 50 years old.

Asked if the US continued to believe that Kashmir was “disputed” territory and therefore not an integral part of India, the Ambassador said the US “strongly supported the Lahore initiative” undertaken by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee last year, which provided a “solid basis to deal with all outstanding issues”, including Kashmir.

“There is value in trying to re-energise that process. The way we would like to address the Kashmir issue is between the leaderships of India and Pakistan taking into account the interests of the people of Kashmir. This engagement needs to be taken at the highest level,” Celeste added.

Highly-placed sources in the Government told The Indian Express that New Delhi continued to stress the “sensitivity” attached to the Kashmir issue if it was taken up during the Clinton visit in India. “We have time and again said that there is no role for any third party of any kind on Kashmir,” the spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs said today, adding, “and that includes mediation, facilitation or anything else.”

Celeste said at his briefing that “no single issue was going to dominate” the Clinton trip, pointing out however that “between friends, all issues should be able to come up.” An “intimate discussion” between the PM and the President was also slated, he added.

Asked if the US was planning to lift any of the economic sanctions on the eve of the visit, the envoy said that Clinton had himself indicated, despite the facility of a waiver being available, that these would be reviewed in the “context of progress on non-proliferation issues”, such as the CTBT.

He confirmed that the Kashmiri Hurriyat leaders had sought a meeting with the President but were not going to get one with either him or his delegation. Similarly, the US was so far “disinclined” to appoint a special coordinator on Kashmir, he added.

Celeste also pointed out that the Clinton trip to Pakistan did not mean approval of the “military takeover” and said he was “frankly impressed by the maturity of the response” of the Indian leadership when it was told that Clinton had finally decided to stop over in Islamabad.

But the US envoy also tried to put the five-day trip in the perspective of building a new relationship for the future, pointing out that business and commercial ties and joint cooperation in the “knowledge-based” industry could be key components in that exercise.

Other US sources gave the names of those accompanying Clinton during his trip: Besides daughter Chelsea and mother-in-law Dorothy Rodham, Commerce Secretary William Daley, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott, National Security Adviser Sandy Berger and his deputy, James Steinberg and White House Chief of Staff John Podesta will be coming.

Indian media out

NEW DELHI:Briefings for the US media accompanying President Clinton will not be open to the Indian media, US officials have said. US sources said informally that if any Indian journalist wished to attend, he or she will have to fly to Washington and join the White House press corps that will fly with Clinton to India. All that, of course, for not an insubstantial fee. In Delhi, the US media press centre at Maurya Sheraton will also be out of bounds for Indian journalists.