US President Bill Clinton arrived India Sunday, beginning his seven-day South Asian trip, including one day in Bangladesh, five days in India and a brief stopover in Pakistan.
The trip is the first by a U.S. president to India in 22 years and to Pakistan in 30 years and is the first ever to Bangladesh. It is also a first trip by a U.S. president to South Asia after the end of the cold war.
Clinton was given a red-carpet welcome at the airport and met by Indian External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh and other senior Indian officials.
Before his departure for South Asia, Clinton told reporters that he would use this trip to rekindle the relationship with India and to reduce tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad. Speaking about India, He said: "We have a lot of things we can do together. Obviously, what I hope to do first is to rekindle the relationship between the U.S. and India."
Clinton, who earlier described the sub-continent and the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir as the most dangerous place in the world, said: "I want to do what I can to reduce tensions in the Indian sub-continent, to reduce the likelihood of weapons, proliferation and the likelihood of conflicts."
He also said he would make clear the U.S. view that a nuclear future was dangerous for India, Pakistan and the world. Meanwhile, newspapers here regarded his trip as a "watershed in Indo-U.S. ties," saying his visit to India is expected to "usher in a new dimension to Indo-U.S. relations."
As a big market, India became an attractive destination for U.S. and other foreign investors. The U.S. remains the largest investor in India while bilateral trade reached a level of 13 billion U.S. dollars in 1999, with India beginning to have a modest surplus. A positive outcome of Clinton's trip will be mainly in the arena of economic relations covering trade, technology and investments and the two countries could further enhance their economic ties in the future.
Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee Sunday expressed confidence that Clinton's visit will help further improve bilateral relations between the two countries. However, he added: "Our relations should be based on equal terms. We will not take any decision under pressure as far as our security is concerned. Decisions will be ours." Vajpayee Saturday ruled out the signing of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) during Clinton's visit, saying there was no connection between the two.
"We are not going to sign the CTBT during Mr. Clinton's visit, but the issue will be discussed," he said. India has also repeatedly opposed any third party mediation in the issue of Kashmir, saying the issue can only be resolved by India and Pakistan bilaterally.
India's leading newspaper Hindu said the assessment in both Washington and New Delhi is that the more intensive Indo-U.S. engagement to be initiated by Clinton will be far more important than the various agreements that will be signed during the visit. In that sense, it said, the "process" of Clinton's visit may indeed be the most valuable "product" for Indo-U.S. relations.
US President Bill Clinton arrived India Sunday, beginning his seven-day South Asian trip, including one day in Bangladesh, five days in India and a brief stopover in Pakistan.
