Indo-Us Realities
Yet, Bill Clinton's visit is likely to set in motion a process for closer engagement between the world's largest and most powerful democracies.The blunt-speaking Madeleine Albright has injected a note of harsh realism by pointing to the continuing Indo-US differences on fundamental issues, even as she has stated that there can be few greater gifts to the future than a strong and cooperative strategic relationship between India and the United States.
The Secretary of State's speech, reflecting the lingering cold-war pairing of India and Pakistan, contains elements that will both please and displease the two neighbours. While being satisfied with her emphasis on the more positive aspects of the Indo-US equation, Indian policy-makers will do well to take note of her more plain-speaking observations. Albright has bemoaned the failure of the Jaswant Singh-Strobe Talbott talks so far to create sufficient common ground on issues dividing India and the US. More importantly, she has cautioned that significant progress by New Delhi on nuclear and missile restraints is necessary before India and the US can realise fully the vast potential of our relationship. What should particularly alarm India is that she has put the onus on it, saying, How India addresses all these issues will, of course, influence the decisions we make. As if to ensure her message is not lost, she re-emphasised that a qualitatively better bilateral relationship will depend largely on what India does. This kind of hectoring by the most powerful state armed with an overkill nuclear and missile capacity shows that the Indo-US relationship is between unequals. Instead of paying heed to Albright's blunt message to India, the Ministry of External Affairs has taken comfort in her sharply expressed concerns about Pakistan's recourse to terrorism, conflict and military rule. Albright made two important statements on Pakistan: Tangible steps must be taken to respect the Line of Control; and we want to see steps to address the effects of terror on Pakistan's neighbours, notably India. The first seeks to uphold the July 4, 1999, US-Pakistan agreement on the LoC, while the second signals a better US appreciation of India's concerns over the Pakistan-Taliban terrorism nexus. Nonetheless, Mr Clinton is expected to press Mr Vajpayee to resume dialogue with Islamabad, with Albright stating that India and Pakistan must find a way to move forward. Time will reveal whether Mr Vajpayee falls in line on that.