WASHINGTON, SEPT 16: "If you look at the way the world is going, it's inconceivable to me that we can build the kind of world we want over the next 10 to 20 years unless there is a very strong partnership between the United States and India," Clinton told newsmen in the Oval office ahead of his talks with Prime Minister Vajpayee.Earlier, in brief remarks on the South Lawn following an elegant welcome ceremony, Clinton said "some differences" between two such large and diverse countries would not stand in the way of turning their common bonds into achievements.The American President set the tone for an emerging special relationship with gracious and thoughtful words on a balmy fall day."If we speak with care, and listen with respect, we will find common ground and achieve common aims," he said, lavishing praise on India's history, culture and diversity and the fascination America held all this in."This is a time of new hope and new opportunities in Indo-American ties," Vajpayee said in his brief remarks, before the two leaders repaired to the Oval office for one-on-one talks before they join their respective delegations. Washington threw up a spectacularly crisp and clear fall day that seemed to augur well for a relationship that has been star-crossed for half a century. As Vajpayee's motorcade drew into the White House, Clinton stepped forward to greet the Prime Minister and solicitously led him by the elbow to the dais, seemingly aware of Vajpayee's ill health. Throughout the ceremony, he was caring and deferential towards the elderly, slow-moving leader. But it was with words that he was most soothing. A man known now for his exquisite eloquence, his graceful and generous speech was like a balm to Indian spirits weighed down by worries about the Prime Minister's very obvious fragility.Clinton sought out words from Vajpayee's own poetry to thread the destiny of the two countries together. " Prime Minister Vajpayee, in your speeches you talk of India's ability to cherish its own marvelous diversity. In your poetry, you write of the importance of unity, saying that people of many faiths can have one dream in every eye."In America, we, too, have a dream of unity amidst our diversity. If people as diverse as we can affirm our common humanity and share common dreams, surely we can and should embrace common endeavors," he said. Even on the question of nuclear proliferation - the one area of discord between the two sides - Clinton trod gingerly, saying they would "talk about our common interests in slowing the spread of nuclear weapons, and the broader consequences of proliferation in South Asia."There was no mention of Kashmir, except perhaps for the President's reference to the discussion they would have on "our common desire to seek peace through dialogue in South Asia."(Appropriately perhaps, the White House band played "Ruffles and Flourishes" among the honours before the leaders arrived.)Clinton also made it clear where his heart lay when it came to the nature of nation-states, saying "it is not only India's democracy, but India's manner of achieving democracy that will forever inspire America."The statement, seen together with his admiration he has expressed repeatedly for India's diversity and plurality, could have positive implications for the way the U S looks at the problems in the region, including separatist movements on the basis of religion.Clinton also made the mandatory reference to India's rise as an economic power and its "breathtaking strides" in information technology saying "increasingly, we are fascinated by India when we think in terms of the future."In the Oval office encounter the US President was asked about the milestones he had set in Indo-US ties and whether it would endure the change in administrations. Clinton said since the vice-president was an "intimate part" of his foreign policy decisions, a Gore administration would quite likely continue it."But I would hope this would become an American commitment that would go beyond political parties, and I believe it will," he added. If the American President's remarks were elegant and laudatory, the Indian Prime Minister was business-like, to put it politely. Even accounting for the need to keep his remarks short because of his failing health, it was a particularly poor effort by his team of speechwriters. But as has been evident throughout this trip, Vajpayee comes across better in more informal settings. At the Oval office meeting, he bantered with Clinton about what a good idea the millennium summit in New York was and how his only regret was that speakers had only five minutes each.Clinton, an expansive speaker joked that "if they had longer, we would still be up there; we wouldn't be down here talking."
