The Rediff Special/ Karl Inderfurth
'Our relations with India will not be hostage to our relations with any other country'
President Clinton is preparing for a visit to a region of extraordinary promise. South Asia has been on the back of our diplomatic globe for too long. The President has recognised for some time -- since well before the May 1998 nuclear tests -- that we needed to enhance our engagement with South Asia. His trip there is part of that effort.
President Clinton's visit to India will be the first by an American president since Jimmy Carter in 1978. Clearly this trip is long overdue. The President will spend five days in India and visit five cities, the most extensive trip ever by a US president to that country. As some of you know, one of the best accounts of the history of US-India relations is Dennis Kux's book, Estranged Democracies. On this trip, President Clinton wants to transform that to 'Engaged Democracies.'
The fact is that US thinking about and policies toward India have entered a new phase. We seek a broad, constructive engagement with India based on broadly conceived US interests. Our overall relations with India will not be hostage to our relations with any other country.
The US sees India as a key player in global affairs in the 21st century, and as a vital contributor to overall Asian regional peace and stability.
The US highly values India's democratic achievement and sees our shared commitment to open pluralistic societies as a powerful bond. We want to give concrete expression to our shared values on this trip.
US and Indian interests are converging in a number of areas high on the 21st century agenda, such as:
Maintaining an open international economy while addressing the potential inequities of globalization;
Ensuring peace and security in India's larger neighborhood, including countering terrorism;
Pursuing mutual benefits through private cooperation in the high technology sectors that will provide the impetus to economic growth in the decades ahead;
Co-operating on global environmental and health matters.
The President will travel to India to join Prime Minister Vajpayee in launching this new era in India-US relations. He looks forward to discussing a wide range of issues, and to learning more about the aspirations of the Indian people, just as he carries with him the conviction of the American people, including the dynamic Indian American community in the US, that our two countries must work more closely together in the future.
Before moving on to the other countries on the President's itinerary, let me mention two further points about India. As with all countries, India and the US have areas where they do not see eye to eye. We want to narrow differences where we can and address areas of disagreement in a candid and constructive manner.
One of these areas of nonproliferation. Over the past two years, India and the US have had an intensive, senior-level dialogue on nonproliferation and security issues, led by Strobe Talbott on the USA side and Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh on the India side. We have made some progress toward greater understanding on these issues, but much work remains to be done.
The US and India share an ultimate concern about how to make the world safer in a nuclear age, and promoting further progress on nonproliferation will be one of the key issues on the President's agenda in India.
Second, as a friend of both India and Pakistan, we are concerned and in touch with both states regularly about the tensions that exist between these two neighbors. Our concerns have been heightened by the fact that both possess nuclear weapons and by the very intense fighting last summer along the Line of Control in Kashmir. We continue to encourage both countries to look for ways to establish dialogue with each other and will continue to do so.
The President has stated clearly that he wants to help promote that dialogue, but we do not see ourselves as mediators on this issue.
Actually the first official stop on the President's schedule will be Bangladesh on March 20, the first-ever Presidential visit to this young country. The President's main objective will be to recognise, reciprocate, and reinforce a tradition of friendship and co-operation with Bangladesh, one of the leading moderate Muslim democracies in the world.
Bangladesh is a constructive participant in the international community. It is currently serving with energy and distinction on the UN Security Council, and has long been a top contributor of personnel for UN peacekeeping missions around the world. It is in line to play a leading role in the Organization of the Islamic Conference, which represents over 50 countries of the Muslim world.
In the region, Bangladesh fosters co-operation, such as its water-sharing agreement with India. The government works with American and international organisations to end child labour in its garment industry and create a model program of micro-credits to improve the lives of women and disadvantaged communities. The President's visit will hail its successes so far, and set the stage in some very concrete ways for further progress in each of these important areas.
I might also add that American investment in Bangladesh is rising exponentially, from barely $ 25 million three years ago to over $ 750 million today. The country is moving forward in developing its vast energy reserves, particularly in natural gas. And, not surprisingly, US companies are highly interested. So the economic and commercial dimension of our relationship with Bangladesh will also be highlighted.
Finally, let me speak for a moment about Pakistan. As I mentioned earlier, the President decided this week that he will stop in Pakistan at the conclusion of his South Asian trip. He will go to Pakistan because it is important to a number of key US national interests that he engage with Pakistan at this time. These interests include:
Avoiding the threat of a conflict in South Asia;
Promoting the return of democracy to Pakistan;
Fighting terrorism;
Preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction;
Creating an environment of regional peace and security;
The President will go to Pakistan because the Pakistani nation is a friend, not because he approves of, or acquiesces in, the government of General Pervez Musharraf. He is not going to mediate the Kashmir dispute.
Rather he will go to continue his consistent efforts to advance the interests I outlined above -- as he has over the last seven years and as he did in his meeting with then prime minister Nawaz Sharif at Blair House last July 4. The understanding that he reached with Sharif that day played a key role in ending a tense conflict in Kargil.
We cannot predict when the next flare up might occur in the region, but tensions are higher now than they have been since the last Indo-Pakistani war in 1971. We are concerned that, through misunderstanding or through gradual escalation, the two countries could once again find themselves in conflict. The President has a responsibility to our nation and to the world to do what he can to avoid such a dangerous development.
The President believes it is crucial that he carry a message of restraint and dialogue to both capitals on this trip. He also wants to assure that we have lines of communication that may be necessary in a crisis, the kind of relationship that enable him to play the effective role he did with Nawaz Sharif last July.
Terrorism is another vital American interest at play in Pakistan and next door in Afghanistan. The terrorists in their camps in Afghanistan, especially Osama bin Laden, all too clearly aim directly at American and American lives. This will be high on the President's agenda.
Democracy in Pakistan was interrupted on October 12. Some have urged the President to avoid Pakistan to demonstrate our displeasure at the military coup there. In fact, that action would be welcomed by the very anti-democratic and militant elements in Pakistan that represent the long-term threat to that country's system. And it would dishearten those in Pakistan who have stood for secular, western oriented democracy for 50 years. We do not want to break faith with them.
The President is convinced that this is the right decision that best protects the interests of the American people.
Let me conclude by referring to a recent remark by President Clinton. He said it is unfortunate that over the years the United States and India have not had a closer working relationship. I believe that also applies to South Asia as a region.
The President's visit is part of an ongoing US effort to change that situation. We intend to seize this moment to lay the groundwork to build closer relations, accentuating the positive and, hopefully, taking steps to overcome the negatives.
US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs Karl Inderfurth
outlined the agenda for the Clinton visit at the US Institute of Peace.
CLINTON VISITS INDIA :The complete coverage
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