Indo-US ties move from Nuclear Winter to Kargil Spring

WASHINGTON, JULY 13: A gradual consonance of views between the United States and India on Kashmir and related security issues has resulte...

WASHINGTON, JULY 13: A gradual consonance of views between the United States and India on Kashmir and related security issues has resulted in what diplomatic circles are now calling a “Kargil Spring” — a far cry from the “Nuclear Winter” that bedeviled Indo-US ties last year.

In the past two weeks, US officials have offered nuanced clarifications on several points that appear to signal a significant, though not tectonic, change in the way they view subcontinental affairs. Pakistan’s military misadventure, it seems, has resulted in a diplomatic bonanza for New Delhi, especially where Washington is concerned.

Gone suddenly are the days when New Delhi was routinely berated for its nuclear ambitions; gone too are the days when the State Department parroted its “Kashmir-is-a-disputed-territory” refrain.

In its place is a new recognition that a country which has been a victim of crossborder terrorism and military adventure from an unstable neighbour deserves a fairer approach.

“Things are definitelylooking up. There is a new appreciation of our stand,” a top Indian diplomat in Washington said speaking about the state of Indo-US ties.

One of the most significant elucidations in this increasingly ambient mood came on Monday when one US official said the sanctity of the Line of Control between India and Pakistan extends across the length of the Jammu and Kashmir, and not just the Kargil sector.

In another clear-cut enunciation, the official also struck down Islamabad’s claim of third-party mediation and world intervention arising out of President Clinton’s pledge to take “personal interest” in promoting bilateralism.

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“International attention, be it of the United States or other countries, does not constitute international mediation. Those are different concepts and that’s not what happened here,” State Department spokesman James Foley said on Monday.

“Our interest is in encouraging an expeditious resumption and intensification of efforts by India and Pakistan to resolve their outstandingdifferences, again, including Kashmir. The US is not a mediator, nor did we offer any specific proposal for ending the fighting in Kargil,” Foley clarified.

Indian officials and independent analysts say it has been a long time since the US took such pains to highlight its consonance with New Delhi. Much of the momentum for this, they believe, came directly from the White House where the National Security Council is now staffed with Don Camp, a full-time South Asia expert who was formerly with the State Department’s South Asia bureau.

“The question now is whether the White House will pursue this beyond one brief summer,” says South Asia expert Stephen P Cohen, Senior Fellow at the Brooking Institution.

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Amid the flurry of statements aimed clearly at reassuring Indian opinion on US intentions, Foley also offered two other clarifications that supported New Delhi’s claims:

The invading forces “came from the Pakistani side of the LoC” — and were not Kashmiri mujahideen who would go back to theIndian side of Kashmir as claimed by some Pakistani leaders and generals

Resolving the current crisis along the LoC was the predicate to restoring the Lahore process. In fact, Indian sources say Washington appears to agree with New Delhi that the Lahore process cannot be resumed immediately — at least not until the last Pakistani intruder withdraws from across the LoC and Islamabad proves its bonafides about respecting the sanctity of the LoC.

The matter is expected to figure in meetings next week when the two sides will have the first direct high-level contacts since the crisis began. Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh is slated to confer with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on the sidelines of the Asean meeting.

Sources said the US State Department recently conveyed its appreciation to the Indian government for its restraint and understanding in resolving the crisis, while also placing on record the key roles played by China and Saudi Arabia in helping with the resolution.