Ecstasy vs expectation

President Clinton's visit promises to be the kind of tamasha everyone will enjoy. And why not? Indian hospitality as always will be extrav...

President Clinton8217;s visit promises to be the kind of tamasha everyone will enjoy. And why not? Indian hospitality as always will be extravagant and the Americans are assured a good time. It is in the nature of such visits that nothing dramatically new will occur. Undoubtedly both capitals would like to have something to grab the headlines but by now it is abundantly clear there will be no breakthroughs and no new departures. Neither side has new cards to play.

It has been decided to put no contentious issues on the table and so if there is any conflict to be had it is likely to be between the White House super-machine that controls presidential comings and goings and handshakes, and the great Indian genius for defeating the best laid plans. Apart from that there cannot be too many expectations. Spin doctors in New Delhi and Washington of course are pumping up the agenda to make it seem worthy somehow of the first presidential visit in 22 years and so on.

If the former are to be believed the trip is confirmation of a tilt towards India with Pervez Musharraf getting, at best, an ultimatum. For its largely sceptical audience back home, the White House is trying to project the visit as an act of statesmanship, a timely effort to cool tempers in this 8220;hottest place on earth8221;.

Realistically seen, the trip is none of that. No matter. It is important for other reasons. It is about what has already been achieved. It marks the distance India and the US have travelled in the last decade since the end of the Cold War to overcome suspicion and to strengthen the relationship. The politics, driven by economic interest and trade, driven by ordinary people rather than politicians, was bound to get better.

What matters also is that there has been a maturing in Washington and the Clinton who comes to New Delhi is very different from the crusading president of seven years ago who stood at the podium of the General Assembly and laid down the law. In India meanwhile a broad consensus has developed, through several changes of government, in favour of economic reform, private enterprise and trade liberalisation. The result is that Indian and American leaders find they are actually from the same planet. They can speak to each other instead of at each other through a fog of misunderstanding.

So when Atal Behari Vajpayee talks to Bill Clinton they will probably find they share a common language. That8217;s good.

Some advice. Do not blow up this trip out of all proportion. Certainly, progress on building a strategic relationship needs to be examined. Too much should not be made of it just now. The really serious business on that front will be discussed when a new US president is in place. Clinton should be reminded that India is very concerned about cross-border terrorism. But, most importantly, New Delhi should not merely complain about Musharraf8217;s perfidy as it has all this while. It is time to take a constructive approach towards Pakistan and use the opportunity of the Clinton visit to break the deadlock with Islamabad. Pressuring the Americans to declare Pakistan a terrorist state leads nowhere for India. Far better to explore ways of getting Islamabad into a dialogue from which it cannot back out.