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| Hillary comes calling | | |
Kalyani Shankar
Issues related to the situation in Pakistan, the India-US nuclear deal and climate change talks will figure high on the agenda when Hillary Clinton meets senior Ministers and officials in New Delhi. India should make most of this opportunity to convey its concerns about Pakistan-bred terrorism
When she visited India in 1995 as the First Lady of the United States, Ms Hillary Clinton was applauded for being what she was. Next week, when she makes her maiden trip to India in her capacity as the top diplomat of the US, all eyes will again be set on her. While the general impression is that her understanding of India may help boost the Indo-US ties, will it really do so? It has taken almost seven months for the Obama Administration to turn towards the Indian subcontinent. Interestingly, Ms Clinton’s itinerary does not include Pakistan or other neighbouring countries.
Those involved in preparing her visit to India claim that the visit itself is important and is meant to deepen and broaden the Indo-US bilateral relations. The focus is more on bilateral ties between the two countries. Obviously, the thrust will be on widening the political, economic trade and cultural relations. As new US pointsman for South Asia in the State Department Robert Blake said recently, Ms Clinton’s visit itself will be a tangible manifestation of the Obama Administration’s commitment to take the Indo-US ties to the next level.
The ground was already cleared by the recent visits of the US National Security Adviser James L Jones and her deputy William Burns. In fact, from the time Mr Barack Obama took over, there had been continuous high level visits with CIA chief Leon Panetta and Mr Obama’s Special Envoy for Afghanistan Richard Holbrook and the US Army chief. They had had interaction at the highest level in India when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made some plain speaking to them about the dangers India apprehends from its neighbourhood, particularly from Pakistan.
On her agenda, there are two major issues that are likely to dominate Ms Clinton’s visit — resumption of Indo-Pak dialogue and taking forward the Indo-US civil nuclear deal. The Obama Administration is keen on India and Pakistan resuming the talks, which was broken after the 26/11 terror attacks on Mumbai. This is the basic thrust of their Indo-Pak policy although the US had stopped hyphenating the two countries and is adopting different approach to each of them.
The US considers the resumption of bilateral talks between India and Pakistan important because it wants Pakistan to remove its military forces from the eastern border near Jammu & Kashmir and instead focus on the western border to deal with the regrouped Taliban elements and Al Qaeda. After the terrorist attack on Mumbai, there was a time when the two neighbouring countries came at loggerheads. India maintained that the perpetrators of the attack were nurtured in Pakistan and hence they must be punished by the Pakistani Government. On the other hand, Pakistan insisted on a possible military threat from India in the wake of the attack and repeatedly denied its armed forces being removed from the eastern border.
For the first time since the last November’s terrorist attack, top leaders of India and Pakistan met in June at the Shanghai Cooperation Summit in Yekaterinburg, Russia. On July 16, the Prime Ministers of both the countries have met at the NAM Summit in Sharm-el-Sheikh.
In this scenario, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit is crucial. She has created the atmosphere by making the right noises in various meetings recently in various fora. Recently, at a conference she told journalists: “We are working hard with our Indian counterparts to create a very deep and broad strategic engagement, and it is my hope that we will be able to announce our intentions when I am in India.” At the Indo—US business council meeting last month, she talked of upgrading the relations between the two countries in a dramatic way.
Ms Clinton’s agenda also includes strategy and information sharing on countering terrorism. She may even urge India to support the Pakistan Government’s efforts along with the US on war on terror.
As for the Indo-US nuclear deal, the G-8 declaration to ban transfer of ENR items to countries which are not signatories of the NPT is a new issue which has to be clarified. Doubts in this regards have to be cleared as India is one of the four countries which have not signed the NPT. Deepening of trade and economic ties are other important issues. Indian investments in the US are growing, amounting to $105 billion this year. The human resources contribution to the US is also on the rise, with more doctors, nurses, engineers and IT professional heading for the US.
Reportedly, Ms Hillary herself has listed climate change, Afghanistan and science as other areas of cooperation between India and the US.
New Delhi should take this opportunity to convey to the US India’s concern about the recent US aid package to Pakistan in the name of fighting terrorism and also the need to contain the terrorist attacks originating from Pakistan’s soil.
Ms Clinton’s visit may pave way for Mr Singh’s next meeting with Mr Obama in September. The US President had renewed his invitation to Mr Singh recently. Ultimately, if all goes well, it may be followed by Mr Obama visiting India next year.
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