16 March 2000
New Partnership with India to Be Focus of Clinton South Asia Trip
(Berger briefs White House correspondents on March 18-26 plans) (760) By Wendy S. Ross Washington File White House Correspondent Washington -- "The most important dimension" of President Clinton's March 18-26 trip to South Asia "is to try to establish a new partnership with India," says President Clinton's National Security Advisor Sandy Berger. "With the end of the Cold War a great new opportunity" exists "to see India as the world's largest, perhaps most vibrant, certainly one of the most promising democracies," Berger told reporters March 16 at a late afternoon briefing at the White House. "For 50 years, America's relationship with India has been viewed through the prism of the Cold War and its aftermath," he said. Berger quoted India's Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as saying recently that the United States and India are "natural allies." "I think that's a view we share," Berger said, "and (we) have a tremendous opportunity to reshape, over time, the nature of our relationship." "Clinton has been determined to get this partnership on track to the benefit of Indians and Americans alike," Berger said. "We want to deepen ties between our governments, our private sectors, our scientists, our citizens." "As we pursue renewed partnership, we must also address important differences with India and, of course, with Pakistan," he said. It will be the first visit to South Asia in 22 years by a U.S. President. Clinton also will visit Bangladesh and stop in Pakistan at the end of his week-long trip. Clinton had hoped to visit South Asia sooner in his Presidency, Berger said, but Indian domestic politics, and then the nuclear tests conducted by India and Pakistan in 1998, derailed those plans. "This trip should have taken place almost three years ago, in 1997," Karl Inderfurth, Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs said. "At the time of the 50th anniversary" of India's independence from Britain, "when Clinton was going to go, the government fell. Shortly after that, there were nuclear tests. Then we started thinking again about going. The government fell. So it has been a combination of domestic politics and world events that has delayed this. It's long overdue." Berger said Clinton "is not going to South Asia to mediate the dispute between" India and Pakistan. "But he will urge them to exercise restraint and resume dialogue. Two nations who offer so much to the world should not condemn their children to a dangerous future. They should choose instead the path toward peace," he said. He said Clinton's stop in Pakistan at the end of his trip "is not an endorsement of the military government" there. "While we disapprove of the way in which democracy was overturned in Pakistan and would seek an early return to democracy, as well as other steps from the Pakistani government," Berger said, "we believe that it is better for the United States and better for the region, for us to maintain a line of communication with the government of Pakistan during particularly difficult times." While in Pakistan, Clinton will meet with Pakistan's President Mohammad Rafiq Tarar, a holdover from the previous government, and then he'll meet with chief executive, General Pervez Musharraf, who ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a coup last October. Following that, Clinton is scheduled to deliver a televised address directly to the people of Pakistan, "our long-time friends, about our hopes for Pakistan and our concerns about its future," Berger said. Clinton "will talk about the long relationship that the United States has had with the people of Pakistan, our high regard for the people of Pakistan, but our concerns about things that are happening in Pakistan, because we're concerned about Pakistan's future. "We're concerned about its nuclear program, we're concerned about tension across the Line of Control in Kashmir. We're concerned about terrorism, we're concerned about seeing a path back to democracy. And I think the President will talk about all of those things to the people of Pakistan and with great respect," Berger said. The president will arrive in New Delhi the evening of March 19. Monday morning, March 20, he will travel to Bangladesh, the first U.S. president ever to visit Bangladesh. He then will spend the rest of his time in India, except for his stop in Pakistan March 25 on his return home to the United States. (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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