Sonia happy with 'success' of U.S. visit

By Javed M. Ansari

NEW DELHI, JULY 4. The Congress president, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, who returned here tonight, has reasons to be satisfied over the success of her first official visit abroad as the Leader of the Opposition. Not only was she the first Indian leader to meet the U.S. Vice-President, Mr. Dick Cheney, in her interactions with influential members of thinktanks, Senators and Congressmen, the Indian Overseas Congress and the media, she managed to portray a new image of herself and the Congress.

Ms. Gandhi's visit has generated a feel-good factor in the party, and many feel it has enhanced her stature and provided a image change for her and the party. ``We are now viewed as a modern forward-looking party, which is not only liberal in its economic policy but also a socially sensitive party with a holistic social and political agenda,'' said a CWC member.

Most partymen believe the exposure has given Ms. Gandhi the much needed confidence and helped shake off her image of a person unable to handle a situation without aides. According to reports, the Congress president not only delivered speeches but also tackled uncomfortable questions with aplomb on issues ranging from whether India should have a foreign-born Prime Minister to the Enron tangle.

However, the success of her visit from the Congress point of view also lies in the fact that she managed to debunk the BJP's attempts to portray the Congress and its president as being anti- U.S. and instinctively adversarial to the United States. She reiterated her party's commitment to close Indo-U.S. relations that go back to the historic 1982 summit between Indira Gandhi and Mr. Ronald Reagan, and the 1985 meeting between Rajiv Gandhi, Mr. Reagan and the Vice-President, Mr. George Bush.

The Congress president also appears to have realised the need to build bridges with members of the Indian community in the U.S. This is a segment on which the BJP had a sort of stranglehold and Ms. Gandhi appears to have made a conscious effort to make a dent by getting them involved in Congress programmes in party-ruled States. During addresses to the Overseas Congress in New York and to the Indian Doctors Association in Washington, she repeatedly urged them to become ``partners in progress''.

She also managed to clear the misconception in the minds of the U.S. leaders about her party's economic policy. She even nullified the BJP's attempt to portray itself as the only party in favour of reforms. Ms. Gandhi reiterated the Congress' commitment to continued liberalisation and globalisation but within the parameters of a mixed economy. With Dr. Manmohan Singh at her side, she stressed on the theme of economic reforms with social development and cited the example of the Congress-ruled States in this regard.

During the meeting with members of the Bush administration and with the editorial board of The New York Times, she said on national issues, particularly those relating to Kashmir, Pakistan and China, the Congress was interested in building a consensus. She supported the Government's decision to invite Gen. Pervez Musharraf for talks, came out firmly against further division of Jammu and Kashmir and spoke of implementing the Shimla and Lahore agreements between India and Pakistan.

By all accounts, each of her five speeches appeared to have gone down well with the audience. However, as she returns to the hurly burly of the political scene here it remains to be seen how she manages to uses the confidence gained from her trip in handling domestic issues.

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