14 March 2000
Wisner Stresses Importance of Clinton South Asia Trip
(Former U.S. ambassador to India briefs reporters at White House) (700) By Wendy S. Ross Washington File White House Correspondent Washington -- President Clinton's March 19-25 visit to Bangladesh, India and Pakistan "is a terrific opportunity" for the United States "to root itself in the region, to get some traction on the issues," former U.S. Ambassador to India, Frank G. Wisner, told reporters at a March 14 White House briefing on the upcoming trip. "It will be extraordinarily important to the United States in this century to maintain security in Asia, to see America's economic prospects advance as that region grows economically. And you really can't face some of the new challenges of the new century without South Asia -- challenges of population, the environment, the new diseases, HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria strains that we've not known before," Wisner said. "The focal point of the visit" will be India, Wisner said, noting that Clinton is the first U.S. President to visit that country in 22 years. "We aim ... to be able to turn a new page in the relationship with South Asia, and notably with India, the dominant power in the region," he said. Relations between India and the United States have changed since the end of the Cold War, "where India was seen to be closer to the erstwhile Soviet Union," Wisner said. "Today we have a real chance to see the relationship broadened politically, economically, right across the board." Wisner, who currently is vice chairman of American International Group Inc., told the journalists that he had "just come back from India. For those of you who will be going on the trip, I think you will sense a vibrancy and enthusiasm about a new day with the United States, a new relationship, and it gives me quite a lot of confidence." Tensions in South Asia need to be addressed, Wisner said, "from Kargil to the coup in Pakistan, to the skyjacking, to now increasing violence along the [Kashmir] Line of Control, the region is showing a marked increase in tension." He urged reporters to read Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's March 14 speech to the Asia Society which he said "laid out an agenda of great importance." She "came down firmly that the United States will continue to pursue its non-proliferation dialogue with the nations of South Asia," he said. "But she made explicitly clear that in the nuclear age borders cannot be changed; they must be respected. The differences have got to be pursued, be they Kashmir or any of the other perennial problems that have been the troubles of South Asia. "She made it clear the United States will not mediate unless asked by all sides. But at the same time, it's critically important that the President keep lines of communications open to both parties, India and Pakistan in this case. And she underscored the importance of respecting the Line of Control in Kashmir, and reducing the violence that is occurring along it. "Mrs. Albright made it absolutely clear that the use of terror across frontiers and inside of other nations can't be permitted and will be actively discouraged by the United States, whether it flows from Afghanistan or stems out of Pakistan," Wisner said. The former U.S. Ambassador to India said he agrees with Clinton's decision to visit Pakistan. "If you're going to do business with a country as important as Pakistan certainly is, at a time when there are real issues on the table, you have to be able to communicate and to be able to communicate, you've got to communicate at the very highest levels," he said. "If we decide not to communicate, then we don't have influence. We can't use our influence in a constructive way. So I'd support whole-heartedly the president's decision to go to Pakistan, to engage the chief executive and to engage the leadership of the country." (The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: usinfo.state.gov)
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