Still a long way to go, says Pickering

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

While a good beginning had been made on sensitive issues in Indo-US relations, there still was a long way to go, said US Undersecretary of State Thomas Pickering on Friday.

Foreign Secretary K Raghunath agreed with Pickering's views, indicating that although contentious issues had been touched upon by both sides, India and the US had not changed their stance.

During press conferences that Pickering and Raghunath gave, it was obvious that on the two most sensitive issues -- the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and Kashmir -- the two sides had yet much ground to cover.

Pickering hinted that although some differences remained, both sides were trying to get over them. He said that the US also welcomed dialogue between India and Pakistan and that "we would do all we can to encourage it". The Indian foreign secretary gave the impression that the very fact that contentious issues were discussed showed the ice was breaking though it would take would take time for the problems to be resolved.

Asked about India's claim for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council, Raghunath said New Delhi wanted the US to define the criteria for acquiring permanent membership of the Council. Pickering made it clear that the US was not opposed to India's inclusion in the security council.

The US wanted 20 to 21 members on the Security Council and only sought that Germany and France be made permanent members, Pickering said, adding, "The continents of Asia, Latin America and Africa could decide their representative for the Security Council or form a small group which could, by rotation, become its members."

He said the countries saw "eye-to-eye" on the Afghan issue. Answering a question on CTBT and the Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty, Raghunath said India had stood by its views on the matter. He did not elaborate. Asked why the US side had used the word 'strategic' to describe its relations with India, Raghunath said it meant in-depth.

Asked the same question, Pickering said it meant that the US would be thinking about the future than the past. "It is not strategic in the sense that we will have some kind of military partnership in a narrow approach," he said.

Asked whether Pickering had indicated whether the US would use its clout with Pakistan to curb cross-border terrorism, Raghunath said it was up to the US to decide what to do. He, however, said that India had proposed a comprehensive convention on terrorism and the US, which had suffered on this count, had reacted favourably.

As it became clear that more dialogue would be necessary for a breakthrough on such ticklish issues, India-watchers in the South Block contended that neither Secretary of State Madeleine Albright nor President Bill Clinton could persuade New Delhi to climb down on these issues in a hurry.