'We are going to be breaking new ground with the Indians very soon'

As US Under Secretary of State Thomas Pickering begins two days of strategic talks with external affairs ministry officials in New Delhi, state department officials explained the Clinton administration's agenda of increased engagement in South Asia at a briefing earlier this week. This is what they said:

Senior State Department official: I have been working closely with Undersecretary Pickering on his visit. Why don't I give you just the overview of what he is attempting to do on this visit to both India and Pakistan, why he's going, what he will try to do in both countries, in general terms.

An important goal during the Clinton administration's second term is to increase US engagement with South Asia. The US recognises the growing importance of South Asia and the need for high-level attention, which has not been there at the secretary of state or presidential level in a very long time.

George Schultz was the last secretary of state to visit the region in 1983. While Jimmy Carter was the last US president who visited India in 1978.

The key factors which have led us to this conclusion of growing importance, include democratic and economic reforms taking place in the region, trade and investment opportunities, global issues such as environment, population, global warming, and security concerns. I might add here that military-to-military co-operation is growing between the US and several states in the region.

The president's recent meetings in New York, with the prime ministers of India and Pakistan, went very well. And he looks forward to his visit to the region next year, as does the secretary.

Undersecretary Pickering will be in India on October 17 and 18, and in Pakistan on 19 and 20. This trip is part of the preparations for the other visits that will be taking place. I should add, by the way, that Undersecretary Eizenstat will also be going out as part of the Economic Subcommission meeting in India in February. Also Secretaries Shalala and Daley will travel this year, so it's not just our state department colleagues.

Undersecretary Pickering will be taking the director of Policy Planning, as well as a representative from the South Asian bureau and one of his special assistants. So there'll be a small team. And the purpose will be to explore issues in both capitals that are bilateral, regional and international -- global in nature.

Let me just give you a word about India.

There has been some talk about a new strategic dialogue between the US and India. Some analysts have referred to this as a 'strategic relationship' or even a 'strategic partnership.' What we have in mind here is something less formal than that, although still quite important. Our goal is for the US and India to understand one another better on the range of issues that I just mentioned. We are looking for ways, quite frankly, to strengthen the international order and to increase peace and stability in the region, something that we are also looking to discuss with Pakistan.

We do want to have a more durable relationship with India. It has been something of a roller coaster over the years. We want to create a relationship that is more stable, less prone to the ups and downs; indeed, a more normal relationship. And to do that, we think that we have to engage in a more in-depth fashion with the Indians than we have in the past. It's something that we think is overdue.

I think that the whole range of issues that Undersecretary Pickering will discuss will sort of get us down the road further in better understanding the assumptions that we have on issues whether they be economic reform, liberalisation, trade and investment. They will be discussed as part of the whole series of visits, or issues relating to some of the more contentious issues like non proliferation.

All these will be part of the discussion, as well as where we are going in terms of our foreign policy. Where the Indians are going in terms of their foreign policy, strategic issues. These will be the subject of the discussions.

We are going to, as I said, move to strengthen our relations with both countries. We don't see this as a zero sum game. We think that we can and should enhance our relations with both countries. We have recently supported some changes in the US law that would allow the country to do certain things in Pakistan that we have not been able to do recently, namely OPIC insurance to support US business ventures in Pakistan, democracy building programs, AID or other types of programs there, and international military education and training assistance, the IMET programme, which we want to see resumed.

These are things that we will be pursuing. We also will be doing what we can to offer support, encouragement and co-operation with the chief priority for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief, which is the revitalisation of the Pakistan economy, which has -- does continue to face severe problems. The IMF loan is a part of addressing that problem. We want to see what we can do to perhaps have greater US business engagement in Pakistan and to see what Pakistan can do to, if you will, enhance the prospects for US economic relations.

We are doing this at a time that also very much coincides with and, indeed, is a part of the resumption of the Indo-Pak talks that have been going on.

The third round of talks are now suspended. We hope that the parties will be able to move forward soon to take these talks beyond the procedural phase to the substantive.

The talks that the president had in New York with the two prime ministers made it clear to him that there is a commitment on their part to move forward. To address the future rather than all of the issues of the past, which Prime Minister Sharief referred to the 50 years of tension in the relationship. So they do want to move forward, and the United States very much wants to assist them in that process, but not as a mediator.

I just underscore that because that continually pops up -- Are we going to mediate? Are we not going to mediate? We support and we will assist them, if asked by both parties, but we are not angling to mediate this dispute, and our policy on Kashmir is oft-stated and well known.

Our going out there is partly to pay tribute to the 50th anniversary to two democracies that are flourishing, and have enormously important histories. But even in the absence of that 50th anniversary, this parade of officials that Secretary Inderfurth led in September reflects and represents a new level of engagement, and intensified activity on the part of the United States government with both of these other governments. And we're looking forward to that leading to increased activity and communication and common projects with respect to both governments.

How would you rate the potential of India as an export market for US products? Is it vast or what?

India is one of the 10 big emerging markets. Jeff Garten sent me his book as I was preparing for this job, to remind me that India has this great potential. It has a middle class, as defined in Indian terms, which is as large as the US population. It also has a very large class that is still in poverty -- which the Indians know -- which is, I think, one of the driving reasons why India has reoriented its economic direction since 1990-91.

The previous Indian economic orientation was not addressing the needs of this country, which by 2020 will be the world's largest country, surpassing China.

So this is a vast market for not only American but other countries's investment. We are already the largest trading and investment partner with India. Quite frankly, we want to remain the largest trading and investment partner with India. And the steps that the Indian government will be taking over the next several months, whether it relates to WTO negotiations in Geneva, to the balance of payments issue, to further knocking down tariff barriers, to moving, as the South Asian region is doing, on an accelerated basis toward a South Asian Free Trade Association.

They want to have a SAFTA that is like our NAFTA --all of these thing will enhance the prospects for greater US investment. So this is a vast potential marketplace.

Could you talk a little bit about how you intend to approach the issues of climate change in the Tokyo meeting and also the issue of CTBT? I mean, is that something that will be -- you've still got at least a year before you really come to a crunch period with that. But how are you dealing with India on that issue at this time?

Well, those are certainly two topics that are going to be on the agenda to talk about. We will be very interested in India's view of the Kyoto process, and what preparations they have made and positions they plan to take at Kyoto so that there's a bit of an exploratory aspect to this.

Since we haven't completed our own processes, it's going to be the beginning. But we can share our concerns as well as our interests about that process, and the same is true for CTBT.

We want to get beyond the traditional checklist, grocer's list of issues that we always bring up when we talk to Indian officials or Pakistani officials. To talk about a broader number and perhaps in greater depth, issues that are of mutual interest and concern to us that we haven't talked about before. But certainly both those issues are going to be very high on the agenda.

What have you talked about before that you are going to explore this time?

Well, this is my first trip as a government official, so I can only speculate as to what government officials have talked about in the past. But I think its a traditional list. When it comes to the US-Pakistan relations or US-Indian relations, I think we have got a lot of time and distance to make up. We haven't had the same kind of regular and at least Washington-Delhi conversations that we have had with the Pakistani government. So I think we are going to be breaking new ground with the Indians very soon.