Clinton initiative to raise $ 1 million

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

NEW YORK, FEB. 3. With a view to helping the ongoing relief efforts in India in the aftermath of the Gujarat earthquake, the former U.S. President, Mr. Bill Clinton, met Indian-American businessmen here on Friday to launch a fund-raiser.

Mr. Clinton met the President and CEO of Citibank and Citicorp, Mr. Victor Menezes, and several others.

The Americans for Indian Relief and Reconstruction hopes to raise $ 1 million.

``The United States is home to a lot of natural disasters and while, thank God, we've never had as many people killed as were killed in this terrible incident, we've had earthquakes, we've had floods, we've had massive fires, we've had a lot of serious tornadoes. We have experience... and this is one of the ways we can help our friends in India,'' the former American President was quoted as saying. Mr. Clinton called the Prime Minister, Mr. A. B. Vajpayee, yesterday.

Asked about Mr. Clinton's initiative, the White House Press Secretary, Mr. Ari Fleisher, said, ``the President (Mr. George W. Bush) has already taken a number of steps to help the Indian Government.''

When asked if Mr. Bush was ``annoyed,'' the spokesman said, ``he has no further thoughts on the subject.''

The United States Agency for International Development has thus far pledged $ 9 million for relief efforts in India.

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