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S U B C O N T I N E N T A L D R I F T
Small
Mercies
What
Clinton can expect from his trip
By
APARISIM GHOSH
March
16, 2000
Web posted at 4 p.m. Hong Kong time, 3 a.m. EST
What will Bill Clinton achieve during his South Asian sojourn next
week? Not much in the areas that most interest him, I'm afraid. India
and Pakistan will move no closer to signing the Comprehensive Test
Ban Treaty or Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty -- although both Prime
Minister Vajpayee and Chief Executive Musharraf will issue the usual
bromides about "frank discussions" on nuclear issues with Clinton.
Nor will there be any progress on Kashmir: it will take a much greater
power than a lame duck American President to get New Delhi and Islamabad
to drop their we-won't-blink-first stance on the disputed state. But
if the President sets his sights just slightly lower, he can hope
to count some important achievements at the end of the trip.
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For a start, there is plenty of goodwill to be won in South Asia,
and it's there for the taking. India hasn't received an American President
in more than two decades; Pakistan, despite its warm friendship with
the U.S. during the cold war, hasn't had a presidential visit since
Nixon in 1969. There is, therefore, a great deal of pent-up demand
for the American-style razzamatazz that inevitably accompanies such
occasions and, just as inevitably, wows the locals. Clinton's natural
crowd-pleasing skills will come in very handy. Just as we subcontinentals
are easily slighted, we are also pushovers for flattery. A few carefully
chosen remarks about the richness of our history and culture (garnished,
perhaps, with a quotation from Tagore or Faiz), and Clinton will have
every sentimental South Asian and their grandmother eating out of
his hands.
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There will undoubtedly be some party poopers who will denounce the
visitor as an imperialist pig and capitalist tool. But when they have
shouted themselves hoarse, they will cool their throats with Coke
and Pepsi, never pausing to ponder the irony of it all. I don't expect
any major demonstrations, though. If Li Peng, one of the butchers
of Tiananmen, could visit India without raising too many hackles,
then Clinton should have it easy.
More tangibly, expect a flurry of announcements involving important
business deals between Indian and American companies during the trip.
Clinton will be accompanied by a phalanx of American businessmen,
all hoping the official visit will help hack through the reams of
red tape that foreign investors usually confront in India. Even after
a decade of economic reforms in New Delhi, business deals require
far too many stamps of official approval. Visits by heads of state
tend to accelerate the bureaucratic wheels.
Finally, the President himself will get to sample REAL Indian food
-- not that ersatz rubbish they dish out at Bombay Club, one of his
favorite restaurants in Washington, D.C. For that alone, he should
be grateful.
Coming soon on this site: Time Asia's first LIVE chat event. The subject
will be subcontinental, the exact date and time to be announced soon.
Look for details on this site and in the magazine. In the meantime,
there's always our bulletin board. Talk back to TIME.
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