Author: Chidanand Rajghatta
Publication: Times of India
Date: April 7, 2001
US President George W. Bush emphatically
signalled his intent to enhance Indo-US relations by inviting External
Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh to the Oval Office for talks following the
latter's discussions with National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice.
Singh was holding talks with Rice
in the White House complex at a scheduled 11 a.m. meeting when Bush dropped
in on the meeting. Such a walk-in is a typical American protocol manoeuvre
designed to send a positive message. But Bush surpassed the intended gesture
which some of the diplomatic fraternity knew in advance by inviting Singh
back to the Oval office and spending nearly half an hour with him. Bush's
gesture, coming at a time when the U.S-China spat is dominating headlines
here, was widely seen as signal that he intended to keep up, if not surpass,
the importance the Clinton administration accorded to ties with India during
its final years.
I was honoured by the Presidents
gracious gesture, an evidently surprised Singh said later during a brief
encounter with the media, but he did not take questions that could have
elicited what they discussed.
Throughout Friday, Singh met key
members of the Bush administrations foreign policy team in an effort to
seek greater convergence between India and the United States on security
and other matters.
Singh, who arrived here Thursday
night after visiting Sweden and Denmark, had a packed day meeting the three
foreign policy principals of the Bush team. He first met National Security
Adviser Condoleeza Rice, the youngest member of the Bush foreign policy
team and a relatively enthusiastic proponent of enhanced U.S-India ties.
He then met Secretary of State Colin
Powell, a moderate who also favours increased cooperation with India, in
the State Department building at Foggy Bottom. Singhs final call for the
day will be on the hard-line Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld at Pentagon.
Officials said Singh was discussing
a whole range of issues, including the Asian security situation, international
and cross-border terrorism, trade and economic issues, and sanctions, while
furthering the personal rapport with the new foreign policy team.
Following the luncheon meeting,
Singh and Powell had a brief encounter with the media just outside the
state department. Powell said they had a fine meeting and the Presidents
gesture was illustrative of the importance the United States attached to
its relationship with India. Singh described his meetings as very fruitful
and rewarding.
Singh's 11 a.m. meeting with Rice
was the focus of attention since it was held in the White House complex
and sometimes the President drops by such meetings in an orchestrated protocol
gesture designed to send a positive message. As it turned out, Bush did
more than just drop in.
The China spat did not derail any
of Singhs meetings although it continued to dominate the headlines here
(Singhs visit got nary a mention). After the pow-wow with Rice, Singh and
the Indian foreign policy team were hosted to a luncheon meeting by Secretary
of State Colin Powell on the elegant eighth floor of the State Department,
following delegation level talks between the two sides.
Singh was accompanied by Lalit Mansingh,
till recently Indias Foreign Secretary and now the new Indian ambassador
in Washington, and senior officials of the External Affairs Minister including
the Joint Secretary (America) and Joint Secretary (Disarmament). Powell
had with him, among others, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage,
Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Marc Grossman, and the Acting
Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Al Eastham.
Although in the past New Delhi's
attitude about sanctions has been that it is up to Washington to lift it
if it wants to improve the atmosphere, this time Singh is carrying briefs
from the various Indian entities under sanction, especially where it involves
urgent national security concerns. One such example is the submarine rescue
deal that Washington has signed with India and has since reneged because
of the sanctions.
US officials, including Powell,
have indicated that the sanctions will be eased in due course but it will
have to wait till a full review of the whole sanctions policy. In the meantime,
US officials said, the Indian wish-list could be examined on a case-by-case
basis and forwarded to the President for one-time waivers.
Although sanctions are an instrument
of legislative policy, lifting sanctions against India has broad support
in the Congress expressed in a well-timed and carefully orchestrated letter
to the President this week by 47 lawmakers and legislation in the Congress
by members of the Indian-American Caucus seeking to overturn the sanctions.
But that sentiment has to be endorsed
by Rumsfeld, a cold warrior whose worldview, according to some experts,
has not changed much from the 1980s. Jaswant Singh, who is a former major
in the Indian Army, is meeting him in his capacity as Defence Minister.
The Pentagon is laying out an Armed Forces Full Honour Arrival Ceremony
when he arrives there at 3 p.m.
