DATE=3/24/2000
TYPE=WORLD OPINION ROUNDUP
TITLE=PRESIDENT CLINTON IN SOUTH ASIA
NUMBER=6-11744
BYLINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS
TELEPHONE=619-3335
CONTENT=
INTRO: For the first time in 22 years, a U-S
president is touring the Indian sub-continent with
stops in Bangladesh, India, and a brief stopover in
Pakistan. The world press is giving Bill Clinton
generally good marks for the visit, which many papers
feel was overdue.
However there is generally little expectation in the
global press that India and Pakistan will heed Mr.
Clinton's call for dialogue in their dispute over
Kashmir. And his urging both nations to sign the
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty on nuclear weapons also
appears, to the world press, to be falling on deaf
ears, in part because the U-S Senate also has rejected
the pact.
We get a sampling now of how some of the world's major
dailies view the U-S presidential trip now from
_________ in this week's World Opinion Roundup.
TEXT: Many newspapers feel the president's stop in
New Delhi, the major visit of this week-long trip, had
taken an extremely positive turn after his address to
a joint session of the Indian Parliament. However
there was considerable skepticism about the
possibility of success on either the Kashmir problem
or the Nuclear Test Ban treaty. Nevertheless, that
did not stop many dailies from considering the trip
well worth while.
We begin our sampling in the southern Indian city of
Madras, where The Hindu notes:
VOICE: ... President ... Clinton's visit to
India has inaugurated what could be a brighter
and more promising chapter in the history of the
relationship between India and the United
States, which has for long been a troubled and
difficult one... No diplomatic "spin" or attempt
to finesse [the] differences [between the two
countries] ... will camouflage the actual fact
that beneath the veneer of cordiality ... the
American strategic view of the subcontinent has
not changed in essence.
TEXT: To Bombay now, for this offering from the
Indian Express.
VOICE: Sense and sensitivity marked President
bill Clinton's address to the joint session of
Parliament ... [Mr.] Clinton, an accomplished
master in the art of partnership, was remarkably
positive in defining the perceived Indo-U-S
partnership in terms of economy; market is the
motivation ... The U-S president is in South
Asia not to mediate on Kashmir. Still
[President] Clinton's question is relevant here:
Are you ready, or do you have the determination,
to resolve it yourself?
TEXT: In Asian Age's editorial, we read:
VOICE: The ... president's address to
Parliament was a diplomatic marvel ... directed
at allaying the worst suspicions, and projecting
Uncle Sam as a benign brother wedded to the same
democratic interests as India. But the language
did not hide the harsh truth. And that was:
There is no shift in U-S policy on non-
proliferation, India-Pakistan relations, and
Kashmir ... Warmth and cordiality apart, the
strategic results of the visit will unfold
slowly.
TEXT: The enthusiasm for the president's visit was
somewhat more restrained in Pakistan, which he visits
Saturday. In Lahore, the Urdo-language daily Khabrain
comments:
VOICE: The Indian leadership has adopted a very
aggressive posture over the last 10 months. Now
that President Bill Clinton is in India, they
(the Indian leadership) have held out all sorts
of assurances just to appease President Clinton.
... Not much success seems to have been achieved
during the Clinton-(Indian Prime Minister Atal
Bihari) Vajpayee meeting, however.
TEXT: Turning to the Pakistani capital, we read in
Islamabad's Ausaf:
VOICE: When President Clinton comes to
Pakistan, he should be informed clearly about
the hegemonic designs of India. General Pervez
Musharraf should not adopt an apologetic posture
and should tell President Clinton that India has
not only enhanced its defense budget but has
also targeted its missiles towards Pakistan.
TEXT: Back to Lahore, for these thoughts from the
English-language daily, Nation:
VOICE: The special treatment being meted out to
India is bound to cause considerable concern in
Pakistan, which remained an American ally
throughout the Cold War. With the announcement
that some of the sanctions imposed earlier on
India are being withdrawn, the question is bound
to be raised in Pakistan whether the country
would have been discriminated against if it were
ruled by an elected government.
TEXT: Turning to President Clinton's earlier visit to
Bangladesh, where security concerns caused U-S and
Bangladeshi authorities to cancel a visit to the
National Memorial, there was dismay from the daily
Jugantor, which asserted:
VOICE: The cancellation of the visit to the
National Memorial for security reasons is an
insult to the entire nation ... Although
President Clinton has expressed his sincere
regrets, our pain will not go away easily.
TEXT: Meanwhile, in the English-language Daily Star
in the capital, Dhaka, we read a more upbeat
assessment of the visit.
VOICE: There appears no doubt that the visit
... will deepen and widen the happy state of
bilateral relations that have been forged
between the two countries over the years ...
Someone quipped, if one visit of the U-S
president could achieve so much common identity
and approach of the two major conflicting
political parties, then he should visit
Bangladesh more often to resolve many
differences that exist between them and evolve a
consensus!
TEXT: Next we go to the daily newspaper near the top
of the world, The Kathmandu Post in Nepal, where we
read:
VOICE: The Clinton administration's
determination to institute intimate relations
with a dominant power of each region and
influence the vicinity [EDS: "area"] in that
manner needs scrutiny and careful examination.
At the same time, President Clinton's forthright
remarks [on potential dangers in the region] ...
require cautious study ...
TEXT: And in the other nation of the region, Sri
Lanka, Colombo's daily, the Island writes:
VOICE: The Indian subcontinent ... has been off
the U-S geopolitical radar screen for long years
after World War Two. It was only after the
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the late `70s
that the region came into sharper focus of the
U-S State Department ... that is why this
Clinton visit is so important to the region.
TEXT: And from China, India's neighbor and the
dominant power in Asia, we read in Beijing's Morning
Post:
VOICE: President Clinton's visit to India is
described by the media as a strategic shift in
American policy toward India. Analysts predict
that an improved relationship with India, an
open Indian market and tremendous commercial
benefits will be the major fruits of President
Clinton's trip.
TEXT: On that note, we conclude this sampling of
press reaction to President Clinton's visit to the
sub-continent this week.
NEB/ANG/JP
24-Mar-2000 13:43 PM EDT (24-Mar-2000 1843 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
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