Indo-US meeting of mind over a few niggling matters

Riedel’s sentiment is understandable. A tall, balding man with round glasses and a prominent smile, he is the administration’s oldest South Asia hand. AsPresident Clinton’s senior advisor for the region since his first term, he saw years pass by with India barely a blip on the administration’s foreign policy radar screen. Inasmuch as one talks of President Clinton’s legacy (an l-word that officials say has been banned in the White House!), the bequest of bureaucrats dealing with India might also be scrutinised by diplomatic historians. Now, at longlast, Riedel felt fulfilled.

"The main thrust now is how to get this relationship on to even bigger things," he continued. "But I believe we bequeath to the next administration a solid foundation of Indo-US relations that will endure well into the next century."

A similar sense of attainment infected the soliloquy of Ambassador Naresh Chandra, the Indian envoy who has been here through four prime ministers. In an informal chat with journalists at a patio party ahead of Vajpayee’s state visit, Chandra said Indo-U.S ties had attained a depth and momentum that was unthinkable a couple of years ago. "It has moved ahead to an extent that we really did not anticipate," he said.

Although it is common to hype such visits – especially by bureaucrats eager to go down well in history — there is an unmistakable sense in this town of Indo-U.S relations having arrived. Whether it is the Congress or the Administration, Indian or American, Democrat or Republican, there is nothing but superlatives and a sense of looking forward when they talk of Indo-U.S ties.

Almost uniformly, everyone points to President Clinton — an enigmatic man whose unconcern for foreign policy in his first term contrast sharply with his passion for it during the second — as the reason of the administration’s sudden Indophilia.

"The President is very excited with this visit. He wants to change the terms of reference and find a whole new paradigm for US ties with India," a Senior Administration Official who works closely with Clinton on South Asia, said at a briefing on Wednesday.

"The message he has given his staff," the official went on, "is that India is already an important player and will be an even more important player, it is a bigpartner and it will be an even bigger partner."

"This viit will institutionalise the relationship," said another official. "To have reciprocal visits in one year is unprecedented and it brings a dramatic end to a 22 year drought," he added, referring to the last such exchange when Morarji Desai came here after Jimmy Carter visited India.

In fact, so much did the officials rhapsodise about the great emerging relationship between Washington and New Delhi that a rather exasperated Pakistani correspondent chipped in to ask what the U.S was doing to address its nose-diving ties with Pakistan.

The query was met with a gentle disquisition about Pakistan’s responsibility in creating conditions for a dialogue with India and a reiteration of the 4 R’smantra — restraint, respect for line of control, reduction of violence etc.

The officials also strongly contested the notion that Vajpayee was meeting a lameduck (another banned l-word) President, telling journalists that Clintonwould continue to be active till his last day in office.

In fact, they said the exchange of high-level visits between the two countries will not be over with this visit; it is likely that Secretary of State Madeliene Albright and perhaps other senior cabinet officials will visit India in October.

(Officials also announced later in the day that Clinton would visit Vietnam after the U.S elections in November, a historic and potentially controversial first post-war visit by an American President who is said to have declined to serve in the Vietnam).

Officials said Clinton would definitely inquire about the situation in Kashmir from Vajpayee and "encourage him."

"The President has gone out of his way to highlight his support and sympathy for India’s suffering on terrorism," one official said, using a rarely used T-word (Americans usually prefer `violence’ to `terrorism’). "He has lot of experience in handling crises and setbacks and he would like to share his thoughts," he added.

The officials also left no doubt that areas of disagreement continued to exist between the two sides – especially on the question of non-proliferation andsanctions. But these were differences that needed to be worked on and the two sides could live with for now.

Vajpayee will meet Clinton at around 10 a.m tomorrow. The two leaders will have a half-hour one-on-one at the Oval office, before they will be joined in a conference hall by their ministers and aides for wider talks.

At the end of their talks, the two leaders are also expected to issue a joint statement with lavish references to Indian Americans and their contributionto furthering this relationship.

Vajpayee will then head for the State Department for the Al Gore luncheon before returning to the White House for a press conference later in the afternoon.