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Once bitten, now US is shy to
comment on Indo-Pak summit

Stung by allegations in some quarters in New Delhi that the United States had pressured Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to invite Pakistan's military leader, General Pervez Musharraf, for talks, the Bush administration has scrupulously eschewed making any pronouncements on the upcoming Agra summit.

State department spokesman Richard Boucher, when asked what Secretary of State Colin Powell thinks would be the outcome of the summit, said, "I think we will leave the outcome to the Indian and Pakistani governments."

Boucher said, "The question of India and Pakistan and the issues that they are going to be dealing with are very important to them and to the United States. We look forward to them establishing a base of cooperation for them to produce a more peaceful and stable situation in the region. And it is our hope that they will do that."

Boucher also refused to be drawn into a debate on any 'specific recommendations for the two countries that the US is offering', saying, "I think I will leave that to our representatives in the field."

Privately, senior US officials told rediff.com that the 'last thing the US wants to do is make any pronouncements on the summit' because paranoia in New Delhi is running high.

"Lots of people in India are saying America is pushing us on this, and the Pakistanis are saying the Americans are on our side and they are pushing the Indians," the officials remarked.

One official referred to the fuss in New Delhi recently when White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said something about the dates of the summit before the Government of India had actually announced them and that immediately prompted some people in India to say, "What's going on here? How did the Americans know about this? What are they up to'?"

The official said that evidently there were as many residual Cold Warriors in India as there were in the dark recesses of the US administration who still believe that neither side can be trusted.

"It's unfortunate that there is this negative connotation out there," the official said. "Obviously, it (the summit) is something we're interested in. We have made no secret that we have been encouraging a dialogue, but that is the extent of it."

Another official, when asked if the US was 'gearing up for the summit', shot back: "It's up to India and Pakistan to gear up for the summit."

Professor Stephen P Cohen, head of the South Asia programme at the Brookings Institution in Washington, who is well-plugged into administration thinking, particularly since his former colleague at Brookings - Richard Haass - now heads the Policy Planning Bureau at the state department, told rediff.com that talk of US pressure on India to invite Musharraf for a dialogue was something most likely concocted by the Pakistanis.

"Rumors of American pressure came from Pakistan to make it easier for Musharraf to go to India," he said.

Cohen said far from any American pressure on New Delhi, or even Islamabad for that matter, "We don't even have ambassadors out there and the administration hasn't even completed its policy review of the region."

Meanwhile, Boucher asked if Powell intended visiting India some time after the summit, or in the near future, said, "I think the secretary has told various people in the region that he looks forward to visiting out there, but there is no particular trip or timing scheduled."

"So that means he will be visiting after the summit. (But) I wouldn't go so far as to say in the near future," Boucher added.

On Monday, Fleischer declined to confirm if President George W Bush would be visiting India early next year as various senior officials have indicated.

When asked if he could confirm that Bush would visit India early next year, Fleischer said, "No, I can't confirm that."

"We have not announced any such travel," he added.

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