Bush to work closely with India

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, APRIL 7. The Minister of External Affairs and Defence, Mr. Jaswant Singh, has said he is more than satisfied with the talks he has had in Washington and doubted if anything more could have been achieved given what took place during his interactions with senior members of the Republican administration including the U.S. President, Mr. George W. Bush.

The meeting in the White House and with the President in the Oval Office on Friday was undoubtedly the high point of Mr. Singh's visit. The important thing was not the President dropping by during Mr. Singh's conversation with the National Security Adviser, Dr. Condoleeza Rice. It was in his escorting Mr. Singh to the Oval Office and not just for ``pleasantries'', an extremely rare occasion for a Foreign Minister.

The two leaders discussed a range of issues including the recent standoff between the U.S. and China, the Kyoto Protocol and the National Missile Defence system. The President talked about the environment and the Kyoto Treaty as he wanted India to understand where he was coming from. ``I was very impressed with the grasp Mr. Bush had of the totality of Indo- U.S.relations as also regional and other aspects. And I was also impressed with his sincere commitment to furthering Indo-U.S. relations,'' Mr. Singh later told reporters.

In spite of domestic and international compulsions the President had made it a point to engage him in a serious dialogue. This was indicative of the importance the Bush administration attaches to India, Mr. Singh said.

Significant interaction

On the meeting with Mr. Bush, the Minister said, the ``gesture in itself emphasises or underlines the fact that he attaches importance to India,'' not just as a factor for stability in the region but as a partner with whom the U.S. can engage on a range of issues.

Mr. Singh told the President that ``his father, President Bush Sr., had initiated this movement of enhanced Indo- U.S. relations and it is only befitting that now under his stewardship the relationship ought to get greater depth, greater coverage and greater content.'' Mr. Singh said the proliferation issue came up during the talks, and the message conveyed was that India was not a ``proliferationist''. It was in an ``extremely complex security environment'' and certain steps had to be taken to maintain its security needs.

The Government in New Delhi remained committed for a national consensus. The Minister reiterated the unilateral and voluntary moratorium and that India would not stand in the way of the entry into force of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. He also said that while India would take into account international concerns, it would not be at the cost of ``national interests''.

There was no hiding the extreme satisfaction - probably even giddiness - of how Friday's agenda with the Bush administration had worked out, either by the Minister or the senior Indian officials who participated in the discussions.

It was pointed out that for the first time Washington was seriously looking at India beyond the immediate subcontinent and at the global scale; and that the President had clearly said his administration would be happy to work closely with India as there was a lot of common ground.

Dialogue on Kashmir

On Kashmir the State Department spokesman, Mr. Richard Boucher, said the Secretary of State, Gen. Colin Powell, had asked Mr. Singh to explain the current situation with a view to gaining an understanding of the developments. ``We encourage all groups to take advantage of the offer (of talks) and enter into talks to reduce violence, to foster a process of dialogue.''

Gen. Powell, describing it as a ``very, very fine meeting'', said a lot had been done in recent years. ``We look forward to building on all that has been accomplished.''

The Bush administration was not for scrapping the dialogue architecture as worked out by the Clinton administration but would have its own ideas on how to go about it. ``I am sure this administration will have its own ideas about how to proceed,'' Mr. Boucher said.

At a press briefing later Mr. Singh said he and Gen. Powell had decided that the architecture of dialogue put in place would be fully implemented.

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