US to initiate 'strategic dialogue' with India

The United States will initiate a 'strategic dialogue' with India on Friday in New Delhi.

The discussion -- the first of its kind -- is intended to improve relations between the two countries, said a senior US state department official in Washington.

Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Pickering will lead the four-member US team in the two-day dialogue. After that, the official added, the same team would leave for Islamabad for similar discussions with Pakistan.

The official, however, made it clear that this exercise should not be seen in the 'political, military and geo-strategic' context.

He said that unlike in the past, the US would not view its relations with India from Pakistan's perspective -- it would see New Delhi's concerns from a broader view point, taking into account its threat perceptions.

''What we are referring to as strategic dialogue,'' he explained, "involves a high-level, comprehensive and forward-looking discussion with India on bilateral, regional and international issues."

In reply to a question, he denied the idea behind the move was to counter China's influence in the region.

''Our relationship with India and China stands independently. Both are very important countries and we have good relations with them,'' he said.

The official said some analysts were talking about ''strategic relations'' between the two countries (US and India).

"But we prefer the description strategic dialogue," he said, "The aim we have is less formal than what strategic relationship would suggest, although it is still quite important.''

The exercise, he went on, would help the US and India understand each other's concerns regarding bilateral, regional and international issues better. What his country was looking for were ways to strengthen international order and ensure peace and stability.

The Clinton administration's view, the official pointed out, was that the Indo-US relationship was 'maturing, becoming more normal.' Now, the two countries disagreed only on few issues -- like, for instance, nuclear and missile proliferation.

Asked whether Pickering would carry any proposal to resolve the non-proliferation issue, the official replied in the negative.

He said such a proposal would emerge out of discussions that India had of late been having with Pakistan and China. That would help lessen the tension in the region and change India's security perception (which had prevented New Delhi from signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Comprehensive Test Ban treaties).

''We do not expect an overnight change in India's view on the CTBT,'' he said.

The difficulties which India and Pakistan were currently facing with their talks, the official said, were quite normal. It always happened when dialogues moved from procedural to substantive issues.

He took note of the row between India and the United Kingdom on the Kashmir issue.

During his stay in New Delhi and Islamabad, Pickering will have discussions about President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's forthcoming visits to the region. He said the wider dialogue with India had become possible because of its economic reforms and the Gujral doctrine.

UNI