He will do tough talking in Pak.

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

MUMBAI, MARCH 24. The U.S.President, Mr.Bill Clinton, is leaving Mumbai on Saturday morning at the end of his five-day visit to India. He and senior members of his administration will be stopping over for a few hours in Islamabad before proceeding to Geneva.

Members of the administration have said that the visit to Islamabad is critical and that Mr. Clinton will use the occasion to do some blunt-talking with Gen. Pervez Musharraf. Mr. Clinton will make some pointed remarks on the scale of violence in Kashmir and stress on the need for Pakistan to resume the dialogue with India.

The White House has not been enthusiastic about the the announcement on local elections in Pakistan. ``It is a positive step but what we are looking for is a roadmap to national elections and a restoration of democratic rule in Pakistan'', its spokesman, Mr.Joe Lockhart, has said.

The American media has taken note of Mr. Clinton's toughening stance against Pakistan; and from the comments made by him it is being said that his discussion with Gen. Musharraf is likely to be sharp and focussed. The U.S. President is expected to touch on the same issues during his televised address to the Pakistani people.

The U.S.media has picked up at least two themes as an indication of Mr.Clinton's toughening stance. First, in his observation in India about the problems of sharing borders with nations which reject democracy.``I know it is difficult to be a democracy bordered by nations whose governments reject democracy``, the President said during his address to the Indian Parliament on Wednesday.

Second,in his interview to ABC's Peter Jennings, Mr.Clinton blamed ``some'' in Pakistan for the ongoing violence in Kashmir. ``I believe that there are elements within the Pakistani Government that have supported those engaged in violence in Kashmir'', the President remarked. This has been interpreted by some as Mr.Clinton coming closest to explicitly blaming Islamabad for the violence in Kashmir.

The U.S. President is under pressure at home to speak firmly with Gen. Musharraf on two subjects-terrorism and the imperative of an early return to the democratic fold. From Capitol Hill, even members of Congress who were urging the President to drop by in Pakistan were making the point that he should go there and at a mimimum read Gen. Musharraf the riot act. Significantly none of the Congressmen on the official American delegation to India will be accompanying Mr. Clinton as he stops over in Pakistan.This is seen as yet another message to Gen. Musharraf.

As in the case with India where the private conversation between Mr.Clinton and the Prime Minister, Mr.A.B.Vajpayee, has not been disclosed, the contents of the American President's discussions with Gen. Musharraf will be off the media scrutiny for the most part. But few are under any illusion of the kind of `spin' that is going to come out of Pakistan especially on Kashmir.

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