DATE=9/15/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CLINTON-INDIA (L)
NUMBER=2-266563
BYLINE=DAVID GOLLUST
DATELINE=WHITE HOUSE
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: President Clinton and Indian Prime Minister
Atal Bihari Vajpayee have held talks at the White
House focusing on South Asian security issues,
including Kashmir and the nuclear arms competition
between India and Pakistan. The program of events had
to be cut back because of the Indian leader's ill
health. V-O-A's David Gollust reports from the White
House.
TEXT: The talks here were a continuation of a
dialogue begun last March when Mr. Clinton paid the
first visit to India by a U-S President in more than
two decades.
The president, who also stopped briefly in Pakistan on
that trip, has described South Asia as "perhaps the
most dangerous" region of the world. And in his
welcoming remarks to Mr. Vajpayee, he again stressed
his interest in seeing an easing of tensions between
the regional powers:
/// Clinton Act ///
We will discuss our common desire to see peace
through dialogue in South Asia. We will talk
about our common interests in slowing the spread
of nuclear weapons and the broader consequences
of proliferation in South Asia. At the same
time, we welcome India's commitment to forego
nuclear testing until the treaty banning all
nuclear testing comes into force.
/// End Act ///
Mr. Vajpayee, who suffers from a number of aliments
including a painful knee condition, remained seated
for the review of troops during the [arrival] ceremony
and spoke only briefly to the crowd, saying it is a
time of new hope and opportunities in Indo-American
relations.
The Indian prime minister told the U-S Congress
Thursday he hopes to erase what he called the "shadow
of hesitation" that hangs over U-S-Indian ties because
of the security issues and that the two countries have
much in common and no clash of interests.
At the request of the Indian side, a joint news
conference by the two leaders that was to have been
held Friday afternoon was canceled in favor of a brief
talk with reporters in the White House Oval Office, at
which Mr. Clinton urged a more frequent and intense U-
S-Indian dialogue:
/// Clinton Act Two ///
I don't think it should be another 20 years
before an American president goes to India. I
think we should have a regular, sustained
partnership. I think we should identify our
common interests. We should be forthright about
the places where we still have differences, and
we should set about trying to resolve them in a
very matter-of-fact, open and honest way.
/// End Act ///
Mr. Clinton said he considered it "inconceivable" that
the two countries -- the world's largest democracies -
- can build the kind of world they want over the
coming decades unless there is s strong U-S-Indian
partnership
He also said he will make it a priority of his to
stress the importance of the relationship with New
Delhi to the next president, be it Vice President Al
Gore or Republican candidate George W. Bush.
(Signed)
NEB/DAG/JP
15-Sep-2000 12:05 PM LOC (15-Sep-2000 1605 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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