Deliberations, Tiger Sightings, Taj...Bill To Have His Hands Full

FIVE DAYS in India, and US President Bill Clinton has a packed schedule. He is scheduled to arrive at the Air Force Station, Palam, around 6.37 pm on March 19. The briefest possible welcome and he is to be whisked away to wherever he is going to stay. (Maurya Sheraton continues to be the cynosure of all eyes).

March 20, the day of Holi, and the guest will, therefore, fly to Dhaka. He returns late in the evening. On the March 21 morning, begins the State visit to India with President Clinton arriving at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan for the ceremonial reception. He will inspect the guard of honour and reaches the end of the shamiana to shake hands with the select group of invitees.

 

He then moves on to Raj Ghat, the samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi, places a wreath and scatters petals in homage. Then he plants a sampling to commemorate his visit.

It is the next stop which is politically most exciting and significant. At 11 am, he arrives at Hyderabad House for talks with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, first, on a one-on-one basis and then, as the two leaders lead their respective governments in delegation-level talks.

Then, the two leaders witness the signing of agreements and documents and answer questions from the media.

By now, it is time for lunch at Ashok Convention Centre, Chanakyapuri.

Vice-President Krishan Kant will call on him in the evening, following which, he will call on President K R Narayanan. That done, it

is over to a State banquet, speeches and, of course, food and drinks.

On the March 22 morning, Leader of the Opposition Sonia Gandhi, will call on him. President Clinton is scheduled to address the joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament at 11 am.

He then goes to the US Embassy, where he will attend a reception in his honour, thus winding up the Delhi part of the visit.

He is scheduled to leave for Agra at 1.30 pm and, after addressing an environment conference with the Taj Mahal as the backdrop, he will visit the mausoleum around 4.30 in the evening. He then flies off to Jaipur.

A quiet evening and on March 23 morning, he is scheduled to visit the Amber Fort and Nayla village about 30 km off Jaipur. After that he flies off to the Ranthambore National Park for a tiger sighting. Will he or will he not see tigers?

Well, according to one account, US Ambassador Richard F Celeste saw not one but seven tigers just last week. The prospects are clearly encouraging.

On March 24 morning, President Clinton is scheduled to visit Hyderabad, where he first visits a health clinic and then spends quite some time at Hitech City, the cybercity Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu is promoting.

He is then scheduled to fly to Mumbai for the last leg of his India visit.

Clinton will have a fairly extensive interaction with corporate India at a meeting jointly set up by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce.

He is also expected to interact with young India at a Generation Next happening but it is yet to be finalised.

The visit is to come to an end around 9.30 am on March 25, when the President leaves Mumbai and heads for a brief stopover in Pakistan.