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President George W Bush's unexpected invitation to Prime Minister A. B. Vajpayee to visit Washington next month is evidently aimed at addressing widespread misgivings in India that the U.S. is jettisoning its stated goal of developing strategic ties with New Delhi because of the changed circumstances in the neighbourhood.
The invitation, extended by Mr Bush after consultations with the principals in his cabinet at the instance of National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice and U.S. ambassador in Delhi Robert Blackwill, was carried by Secretary of State Colin Powell and was immediately accepted by the Prime Minister.
Mr Vajpayee will arrive here on November 9, soon after attending the UN General Assembly, which is a rare departure because Washington does not entertain foreign heads coming for the UN session in New York.
It will be his second visit to Washington in 14 months, after no Indian Prime Minister came here for six years between 1994 and 2000. Termed an "official working visit" in diplomatese, it will be sans the fanfare that accompanied his previous "state visit."
Announcing the visit in Sacramento, California, shortly before Mr Bush set off for the APEC meeting in Shanghai, a White House spokesman said the "visit is an important opportunity to reaffirm the U.S." interest in building a broad-based partnership with India and to promote closer cooperation on arrange of security and economic issues that advance common objectives."
"President Bush looks forward to discussing ways to strengthen the anti-terrorism campaign and to foster regional stability in South Asia," he added.
Officials here say the U.S. has taken several important steps to address India's concerns surrounding the seismic changes arising from the September 11 attacks. For one, it has said more than once that it believes India is also a victim of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere, and that terrorism will be addressed too.
Although it has shied away from naming Pakistan (for obvious reasons), it has taken up the issue with Islamabad. Officials accompanying Secretary of State Colin Powell on his trip to the region were quoted as saying he carried explicit assurances from Gen Pervez Musharraf to the Indian leadership that he (Musharraf) will try and contain extremism in Pakistan.
More importantly, there were signs that despite Washington's contention about the centrality of the Kashmir issue in dissipating tensions between the two sides, it will not back Pakistan's efforts to redraw the boundaries.
At the joint press conference in Delhi with external affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, Mr Powell said, "I totally agree in response to Mr Singh's comment that the question of the state of Jammu and Kashmir is an example of the secular traditions of the Indian nation. In that sense, we really cannot move towards reinvesting the two nations."
After the initial disquiet, New Delhi now appears reassured that the Bush administration intends to travel along the road map laid out by the Clinton government, with added momentum as promised, despite the extenuating circumstances that has forced it to reexamine its policy towards Pakistan.
After the Clinton administration had virtually discarded Pakistan to the dust heap, the Bush dispensation has decided that it needs to "manage" Pakistan instead of isolating it. Indian officials say that suits India fine as long as it tempers Islamabad's behaviour.
Still, the administration appears
keen to show that Washington is not succumbing to the old zero sum game
of equating India with Pakistan. Pointedly, there has been no invitation
to Pakistan's military ruler to visit Washington despite his overnight
status as an ally against terrorism that officials here privately acknowledge
has been engendered by Islamabad's reckless policies. However, it is entirely
possible that Gen Musharraf may also be called for consultations, some
officials stressed.
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