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Clinton undecided on Pakistan visit

A P Kamath

On the surface, Indian American groups looked cheerful when they heard President Clinton announced the dates for his visit to India, but many could not help wondering whether he will pay at least a courtesy visit to Pakistan.

There was mention about Pakistan when the White House announced on Tuesday that Clinton would be in India between March 20 and 25.

A visit to Pakistan would not be morally right, many pro-India Congressmen and community leaders said. Having recently threatened to name Pakistan a terrorism-sponsoring nation it would be ironic for America to send its president to Islamabad, observers in Washington said. Given the volatile political situation across Pakistan and the continual calls by fundamentalists and militants for the destruction of America, many wondered if making security arrangements would also be easy.

Instead of thinking of Pakistan, America "should abandon old paradigms and Cold War hang-ups and see that India, a robust democracy, is our natural ally in the region," urged Congressman Gary L Ackerman, a leading member of the House International Relations Committee.

This is the first visit to India by an American president in more than 20 years since Jimmy Carter, a Democrat, visited New Delhi.

Several Washington insiders said Pakistan has not been able to persuade the White House since it has not announced a timetable to revert to democracy or taken action against terrorist groups like the Harkat ul-Mujahideen, implicated in the hijacking of the Indian Airlines aircraft in December. It has also not tried to influence the Taleban in Afghanistan to hand over Osama Bin Laden, the Saudi Arabian millionaire who backs many Islamic militant groups and who is held responsible for the blasts at two US embassies in Africa last year.

"The president should seriously weigh what signal the United States would be sending to the world if he decides to include Pakistan during his sojourn to the Indian subcontinent," Ackerman, a Democrat from New York, said.

"I strongly believe that the president must not include Pakistan in his south Asian itinerary unless the administration gets iron-clad guarantees on at least two key issues:

"Firstly, the military dictator in Islamabad must undertake verifiable steps to stop his proxy war against India, especially in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. This means, in effect, that terrorist organizations such as the Harkat ul-Mujahideen and the Lashkar-e-Toiba must be outlawed from Pakistan and not allowed to operate from Pakistani soil. This means that the regime in Islamabad must close down all training camps that breed and nurture these terror outfits.

"Secondly, the junta now illegitimately ruling the people of Pakistan must give a date-certain schedule to hold democratic elections in which all political parties and political leaders could participate. The elections, which should be conducted under international supervision, must allow for genuine democracy to flourish. Controlled or managed elections will be unacceptable to the international community."

Ackerman, who is also the co-chairman of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, said having had numerous discussion with the president he was not surprised to hear that Clinton "is anxious to visit to India."

Asserting the visit would be a milestone for India and America, Ackerman added, "It will lay the foundations of the new parameters that govern our two nations' ties in the new millennium."

The Congressman expects "a relationship that sheds old shibboleths, mutual suspicions, and unnecessary recriminations. It will be a relationship that is "built on the hopes and aspirations of our two peoples and not on the fears and stereotypes of the past," he continued.

He said following the Kargil invasion and America's swift condemnation, New Delhi and Washington have established a new understanding. "It is now time to move US-India bilateral relations to a higher plane which will allow Washington and New Delhi to forge a strategic partnership in south Asia," he said.

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Clinton will arrive on March 20 on 5-day visit

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