Date:12/09/2002 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2002/09/12/stories/2002091204821100.htm

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PM, Bush to discuss 'broad bilateral agenda'

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

New York SEPT. 11. The U.S. President, George W. Bush, will be discussing the "broad bilateral agenda'' that will include the problem of the Line of Control and Kashmir when he meets the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, here on Thursday, the White House has said.

And when he meets the President of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, Mr. Bush, aside from the bilateral issues in the relationship that includes the importance of democracy, will also discuss "diminishing tensions between India and Pakistan over Kashmir."

"Mr. Bush will have a chance to meet a second time with Mr. Vajpayee and at that meeting will talk about our broad bilateral agenda with India,'' a senior administration official said. "We have a number of important issues with India, a number of areas of cooperation. And in that context also about regional security, and, of course, the problem of the Line of Control and Kashmir,'' the official said. On Pakistan, he maintained that Mr. Bush would talk to Gen. Musharraf about the war on terror, the importance of democracy and in particular "the fact that the U.S. is watching very closely the elections that are to take place,'' this October. "And of course, also about diminishing tensions between India and Pakistan."

In fact, in his meeting with the members of the Indian press corps in Washington on Monday, the External Affairs Minister, Yashwant Sinha, said that the focus of the Bush-Vajpayee meeting would be on the bilateral agenda, the emphasis being on the areas already identified by the two leaders and on how the relationship could be taken further.

Mr. Sinha listed at least five or six areas where India and the U.S. were keen on expanding the breadth and scope of cooperation. These include research and development, trade, space technology, civilian nuclear technology, the framework of economic and defence dialogue and the subject of regional and global questions. He said the relations with the U.S. were "no longer hostage or prisoner to the old Pakistan-centric approach."

"The desire to go beyond the Indo-Pakistan-centric approach was expressed by the U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell, during his visit to India and it has been like that since,'' Mr. Sinha said.

In rather two days of hectic talks here, Mr. Sinha held wide-ranging discussions not only with his counterpart, Colin Powell, but also with the Deputy Secretary of Defence, Paul Wolfowitz, the Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, and the President's National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice, at the White House.

Mr. Sinha also met senior lawmakers of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Kashmir and the issue of cross border terrorism did come up during his meetings in Washington and the Mr. Sinha said that it was "very satisfying'' for his delegation to note what Gen. Powell had said after the meeting and during the media stakeout at the State Department. To a question Gen. Powell said: "I reaffirmed to the Minister that we would continue to press the Pakistan Government to do everything possible to stop the cross border infiltration and remind them of the commitment they have made not only to the U.S. but also to the international community that they would not support such activity and would work actively to stop it.'' Before leaving for New York, Mr. Sinha addressed the Brookings Institution where he dwelt on not only what terrorism meant to India but also that in the war against terror "India and the U.S. stand shoulder to shoulder'' and have a vital stake in defeating the forces of terror.