US, India race to rebuild ties as Clinton prepares for trip

NEW DELHI, Jan 16: With a visit by US President Bill Clinton in the offing, the United States and India are racing to rebuild political and economic ties and reconcile differences on India's nuclear programme, reports AP.

Visits by members of the US Congress, a top military commander and Cabinet secretaries are setting the pace in efforts to improve ties and put to rest decades of antipathy that existed when India had links to the former Soviet Union.

US Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers will be in New Delhi tomorrow, on his way to the G-7 meeting of major industrialised nations in Tokyo.

Days before his visit, India lifted trade barriers, that for nearly five decades, blocked US products in key Indian markets such as textiles, agriculture, and consumer and manufactured goods.

Also in the coming week, US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott will meet Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh in London to discuss the nuclear issue on which the two countries have some fundamental differences.

US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is expected in New Delhi to oversee preparations for Clinton's visit to South Asia, expected some time in March.

"The flow of visitors is not accidental," said Kanti Vajpayee, an expert on South Asian security at the Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Clinton also plans to go on to Bangladesh, but a stop in Pakistan appeared unlikely after the military coup ousted the elected government in Islamabad in October. While Pakistan is under a military regime, the Indian government installed last October appears as stable as any in the past decade.

Indian markets are opening and prospects are good for a return to a high growth rate above 7 per cent annually. For Washington, India looks like, "a military and strategic power, whether America likes it or not," Vajpayee said.

Treasury Secretary Summers will be the highest ranking American to visit since India detonated a nuclear device in May 1998.

After meetings with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha and opposition leader Sonia Gandhi, Summers plants to visit the southern city of Bangalore, the center of India's exploding software industry and fertile ground for US investment.

Admiral Dennis Cultler Blair, commander-in-chief of the US Pacific Command, visited New Delhi last week to revive the yearly joint military exercises which were stopped after the nuclear detonations.

Many see the key to improved relations in the Talbott and Singh talks. The two have met nearly a dozen times since the 1998 tests.

Talbott has tried to persuade India to embrace the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and other international agreements. He also wants strict controls on nuclear technology exports and wants India to define its defense posture.