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Clinton's 5-day visit to India begins on March 20

A Special Correspondent in New Delhi

United States President Bill Clinton will pay a five-day visit to India from March 20.

A statement issued by the ministry of external affairs said the visit was being made at the invitation of the President of India.

Clinton's visit is expected to pave the way for a qualitatively new and closer relationship between the two democracies, the statement added.

Most other details about the visit remain sketchy as the two countries hammer out the final modalities of the visit. The last visit by the US president to India was more than 20 years ago, when Jimmy Carter had visited India in January 1978.

Carter had not visited Pakistan -- which was then, as now, ruled by a military rehgime -- and there is some speculation that Clinton too might not visit Pakistan. However, Clinton will visit Bangladesh along with India.

Speaking about the US president's visit, MEA spokesperson R S Jassal said the details are still being worked and the final delegation that will accompany the president will be known at a later date. A large delegation, including businessmen, are expected to accompany the presidential entourage. It is still not known whether any agreements between India and the US will be signed during the visit.

Asked whether India would sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty during Clinton's presence in Delhi, the spokesman declared that the visit should not be seen in the context of any specific subject. "When top leaders visit, it covers a wide range of issues or themes."

The spokesman said besides New Delhi, Clinton is expected to visit at least two other Indian cities, though the names have not been finalised. The United States administration is looking at the possibilities of Bombay, Bangalore or Hyderabad. The US president is also likely to visit Agra to see the Taj Mahal, usually de rigeur for any visiting dignitary.

Though the MEA spokesman declared that despite the 20-year hiatus between the visit of the US presidents to India, Indo-US relations have been steadily improving and broadening, all through the 1980s India's stand in supporting the Soviet Union in Afghanistan was viewed extremely critically by Washington DC.

The end of the Cold War and India's economic liberalisation in the early 1990s saw an upswing in Indo-US ties. The US is the largest foreign direct investor in India and improving business ties have caused an upsurge in bilateral ties. The presence of a large number of Indians in Silicon Valley has also raised the profile of India in the US.

Clinton had planned to visit India soon after he assumed office for a second time in 1997, but was delayed by a number of reasons. First it was the political instability in India that forced him to defer his visit. Then, after the BJP assumed office, it carried out the nuclear blasts, in the wake of which the US imposed economic sanctions on India and Indo-US relations plummeted. The situation was salvaged following bilateral negotiations between the two countries.

Yet another factor was the military takeover in Pakistan. Clinton is keen to visit both India and Pakistan, but visiting Pakistan under a military regime is being opposed by various sections within the US and outside.

With the US presidential election just nine months away, Clinton's visit to India will certainly be among his last state visits before he demits office.

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