'The US is bullish about India'

Recently, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was reported as trying to arrange a meeting between the prime ministers of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh in Dhaka in November. Did you have any discussion with her regarding this meeting? Also, is President Clinton visiting Bangladesh?

On the possibility of a meeting of the prime ministers of Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, it was mentioned to us that Sheikh Hasina is interested in convening such a meeting. I don't think that has been finalised. Of course, it's not something that the United States would be asked to take part in.

I do see it as a further example of the kind of regional cooperation that is being explored in South Asia today, most notably, quite frankly, in SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation). In Nepal I met with the secretary-general of SAARC to talk about his plans. I told him that since we are very enthusiastic about our NAFTA (North American Free Trade Association) that we would highly recommend a SAFTA (South Asian Free Trade Association) for South Asia. I don't know anything more about that meeting than simply hearing that it being discussed. And I think any meetings where you're bringing leaders together in the region to enhance economic or other types of co-operation are clearly a good idea.

Regarding the president's visit to Bangladesh, there is interest in his traveling there. And this was something the prime minister made very clear that she would like to see happen. She was at the funeral service for Mother Teresa and I know that she had an opportunity to talk to the (American) First Lady about this as well. The First Lady visited Bangladesh in 1995.

Anyway, we're looking at the president's schedule. Clearly he would like to add another country, if possible, to his itinerary for 1998. We're seeing what we can do there.

Is there any proposal to give the F-16s to Pakistan, as was stated by Congressman Pallone? Also, can you amplify on the 'new approach'? What exactly do you have in mind that is new compared to the past?

I am not sure what he is referring to, so I would have to ask him what he is referring to about the F-16s. We continue to look for a way to resolve that issue. We know that it is very important to Pakistan. And Prime Minister Sharief mentioned that to me when I met him in Islamabad. We're looking for a way to try to resolve this that will be an acceptable solution for all concerned.

About the new approach: I think everything that I have said so far is part of that new approach; the new approach being a greater level of engagement, indeed at a higher level of our governments than we have seen in recent years. I think that when I met with you before I cited the length of time since the last presidential visit, which has been 20 years since President Carter, and the last working visit of a secretary of state, George Shultz in 1983. I think that's part of it.

I think it's also to try to place those areas of disagreement that we have with the states of the region in a broader context of our full relationship, and to try to move away from the ups and downs that we have seen. Again, historically speaking, the end of the Cold War has provided us an opportunity to develop more normal relations with the nations in the region, particularly India and Pakistan to the extent that the Cold War did affect our relationship with both countries in different ways. So that is the new approach and indeed, enhanced economic relations with each country.

For instance, in Bangladesh I was present for the initialing of one contract and the signing of another, dealing with the development of Bangladesh gas reserves. Two contracts were signed, one with UNOCAL, one with Smith Co-Generation and these had been in the works for some time. These contracts are worth about $ 200,000. This is a future. Trade, economic, investment relations, the future of not only South Asia, but other regions around the world and American business men and women are quite anxious to get involved.

Everyone understands that when you have that kind of involvement, it's a win-win situation for the countries and the investors. Jobs are created, markets are created, all those things which raise the standard of living, provide greater employment opportunities, and it's good business. So I think that's all part of the new approach.

The Sir Lankan government has been sort of virtually imploring the US to come down hard on those who raise funds for the LTTE in the US, which seems to stuck in legal ramifications. Are you guys going to come down had on them?

I don't want to talk about fund-raisers in the US. But I did discuss this in Colombo. I heard very clearly from President Kumaratunga that she would very much want the United states to designate the LTTE as a terrorist organisation. This is still in the process of being determined within the US government. I think that there is some frustration about the length of time it has taken to go through all of the legal ramifications.

I received a report recently explaining how that determination is finally made, the numbers of departments and agencies and the rest; it is a long and frustrating process. So I think it's moving toward a decision. And we certainly know the view of the Sri Lankan government about that. And we also know the implications of what that would mean in terms of action that could be taken if that designation is given.

What measures do you think that might be taken so that you can promote US business interests in India?

I had a luncheon engagement with the Confederation of Indian Industry recently and I did say that the US is bullish about our trade relations. This is something that is very clear to those of us working in government, that our economic relations with countries South Asia have enormous opportunities. And I'm not just referring here to India, but across the board. With India, we have been very, very pleased with the rate of economic liberalisation since 1990-91. There have been a number of important steps to break trade barriers and the rest. We think that if you will have a second wave of reforms, that would be very helpful because there are some difficult issues now being addressed.

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