Nuke-chill freezes India-US communication channel

The state department appears to be taking the lead in conveying the frostiness with icy rebukes, acid remarks and unreturned calls. "The atmosphere is one of virtual hostility," one Indian official said. "They seem to be taking it out personally."

The attitude seems to arise from the personal sense of betrayal which top officials of the department feel with the unexpected nucleartests. "Of course there are a lot of disappointed people here. Many of them had committed a lot of time and effort to India and the tests were like a slap in the face," an administration official said.

There has been a dramatic turnaround in atmospherics between the two sides from only a month ago when camaraderie was at an all time high with the state department stringing together a series of elaborate gesturesto highlight how well disposed Washington was towards New Delhi. This included little "photo-op" touches like sending Bill Richardson to a cricket match in Delhi and Rick Inderfurth to a Hindi movie in Bombay.

"Agreed it was more ceremony thean substance, but with the initiation of the strategic dialogues things had never been warmer. You guys blew everything more than just metaphorically," one official said. Everything changed on that Monday morning when the blast in Pokhran reverberated in Foggy Bottom. Since then things have gone from bad to worse.

"There is not a whole to say right now to theIndian government. And yes, there is a significant downturn to the volume of business," one official said.

Initially, the state department took things in its stride, perhaps taking a cue from the White House and the National Security Council, which adopted a tough but conciliatory tone. But New Delhi’s "aggressive postures and belligerent statements" have since aggravated the mood, officials say. "Every new statement about weaponisation and hot pursuit is only adding to the problem. We should know when to keep a dignified silence," an Indian official fumed. The Prime Minister’s Office has since issued a note saying foreign policy announcements will only be made by the PMO and the External Affairs Ministry spokesman, but other government spokesmen, including senior ministers, are still muddying the waters with statements.

The problem, observers here say, will be compounded by the exit of two mid-level officers who have finished their tour of duty in the South Asia bureau. Director of the bureau Steve Mannis awaiting an ambassadorial assignment after his three-year stint and India desk officer Chris Sandrolini has also finished his tour of duty and will move to a new assignment. Mann’s replacement will be Gary Usery, who has just finished as the Deputy Chief of Mission in Morocco and who has served earlier as the US Consul General in Lahore. Sandrolini’s replacement has not been named. US officials are now weighing every little word and pronouncement from BJP leaders and panjandrums in India, after the monumental policy flub that resulted from their taking the earlier proclamations and manifestos lightly

As a result, the words of sundry acharyas and mahants are also registering on the barometer of Indo-US relations. The Indian embassy is also crippled by the Indian community lying low after the tests. Although a majority of the overseas Indians support the overt nuclearisation, they are mainly more recent immigrants who have a limited political clout. The real lobbying force, Indian-Americans,are finding it to as yet go out and defend the tests.

The tentative inroads that India had made into the White House and the National Security Council — both far better disposed towards New Delhi than the policy driven State Department — has also been halted. President Clinton’s South Asia trip is still on hold pending developments in Pakistan.