Mr. Clinton's visit to Pakistan

GIVEN THE LONG strategic relationship between the two countries going back to the Cold War, the American President, Mr. Bill Clinton's decision to stop over in Pakistan was inevitable. Pakistan was part of the original itinerary but last October's military coup raised some genuine concerns in Washington about the possible signals a visit could convey in the new context. Over-riding national interests have undoubtedly prevailed. It is a decision coloured by American interests and it would be unwise for New Delhi to construe such a visit as a slap on its face. Whatever the spin given now by official spokesmen in Delhi - the few hours versus the five days - the contradictions in India's frenetic campaign to forestall Mr. Clinton's visit to Islamabad were too glaring. On the one hand, Delhi's campaigners conceded that it was none of their business to decide where the American President went or whom he met but, on the other, they delivered the dramatic warning that ``the people'' of this country would be unhappy if he stopped over in Islamabad. The campaigners included the Prime Minister, Mr. Vajpayee, during a surprisingly belligerent phase of election activity. This was an unproductive campaign that totally undermined India's own interests much like in the case of the earlier demand that the U.S. should declare Pakistan a terrorist State. In both cases it was a partisan agenda that was stretched to make it appear like the nation's and went against the national inclination. Neither demand would have served India's interest in the short or long-term.

As the folly of the campaign against the stopover becomes evident, it is essential that New Delhi abandons its current approach of stridency and aggressive tenor towards its neighbour. This reiteration is necessary because the danger exists that the BJP-led Government may be tempted to press further its partisan agenda during the visit of the American President. The maturity that attended the marathon sessions between the External Affairs Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh, and the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, Mr. Strobe Talbott, seems suddenly to have yielded place to partisanship as reflected in the launch of the unedifying campaign in the last fortnight to try and stop Mr. Clinton from visiting Islamabad. If more such diplomatic embarrassments are to be averted, the Government must keep the focus during the Clinton visit pointedly on the bilateral track, fully exploring the increasing opportunities for economic cooperation. Official spokesmen have reiterated that the Government wants to look beyond the debate over the stopover and focus on a new edifice of Indo-American relationship. An evident American keenness for closer interaction and greater engagement can be tapped to mutual benefit.

After taking the considered decision to stop over in Islamabad, rejecting some sections of domestic political opinion that favoured the isolation of Pakistan and now having to rebut suggestions that a visit would amount to an endorsement of the military Government, Mr. Clinton walks a very thin line. If the visit, rare and long awaited, of an American President is not to be construed as an endorsement of the regime of Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Mr. Clinton must take his message of hope to the people of that beleaguered nation, with an emphasis on the imperative of returning to democracy. As the dastardly killing in Karachi of the lawyer assisting defence in the trial of the ousted Prime Minister, Mr. Nawaz Sharif, during the weekend indicates, Pakistan is a nation in dire need of the healing touch.

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