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UNITED NATIONS -- President Bill Clinton put aside his rigorous political fundraising schedule for a week and went back to political meddling--this time in South Asia. The frequent flyer President took his famous road show to Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan where in a whirl of colors, splendor and majesty, Bill Clinton looked more often like a latter-day Maharajah than a lame-duck President.
Living in the lap of luxury surrounded by wretched poverty, on safari to see the splendid Bengal Tigers, and posing for the obligatory picture in front of the majestic Taj Mahal, Maharaja Bill played President, tourist, salesman and fakir--a classic style over substance state visit for Clinton
To be sure, a renewed American relationship with India the world's largest democracy clearly makes good political, economic, and strategic sense for the U.S. Yet one must recall the reason for the formerly frosty ties between Washington and New Delhi spanning the Cold War where to put it diplomatically, nonaligned India was clearly a comrade of the former Soviet Union. Correspondingly American policy then "tilted" to Pakistan; once close ties to Muslim Pakistan have tarnished in recent years.
Following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and later Vietnam's incursion into neighboring Cambodia, New Delhi clearly backed the Moscow line in the United Nations. According to a The Times of India editorial "India is still paying the price for supporting the Soviet invasion of that country."
In the past decade India has enacted some quite remarkable economic reforms. Casting aside the old socialist mindset so slavishly embraced in the 1950's through 1970's and finally facing the reality check that planned economies bring unplanned failures, India changed course. Thus her economy closed by social design and self- righteous political isms, missed the foreign investment boat until recently.
India has much to offer the USA and visa versa and there's a lot of catching up.
Business will be beneficial to both sides. The software boys in Bombay and the kids of Silicon Valley are natural friends. Now the US/India two way trade stands at an impressive $12 billion; the opportunity for American investments abound. Still in trying to sell his trademark mantra of commerce (or commercialism) over sovereignty, Clinton had limited success.
Despite business optimism, the nuclear genie shadows the subcontinent as India's nuclear bomb was matched by rival Pakistan two years ago. Bill Clinton asserts that the region is "the most dangerous place on earth," an analysis quickly rebuffed by India's leaders. But even beyond nuclear weapons, Indian defense spending is slated to skyrocket 28 percent to a total of $14 billion.
Given that arch-rivals India and Pakistan "have the bomb" and may I say both are probably quite willing to use it, we come to the point where American diplomacy--if there were such a thing--could play a significant role in defusing this timebomb. Don't expect New Delhi or Islamabad to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)
anytime soon.
Kashmir, the region disputed and divided between largely Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan is the fuse to the conflagration. Last year's renewed conflict in the mountainous region almost ignited a full scale war between the nuclear rivals. While Clinton eagerly offered to meddle in the intractable affair, and was quickly rebuffed by India, let's recall a few facts very conveniently forgotten about this dispute.
One reason India favored the Soviets in the past was in return for the "secret protocol" that Moscow would use its powerful Security Council veto to block any action to change the status quo. One of the UN's first Security Council resolutions in 1949 mandated a military observer group along the line of control dividing Indian and Pakistani Kashmir. A year earlier the U.N. got India and Pakistan to agree to hold a plebiscite in the territory, the administrator of which was to be American Admiral Chester Nimitz. The vote was never held. Self determination remains a mirage.
I presume that both a self-righteous political class in New Delhi and a piqued Pakistani military ruler, were still happy to receive some glad-handing and schmoozing from the visiting U.S. President. I'm just sorry that Maharaja Bill decided to forego the Elephant ride and pass up what would have been one of the enduring images of his Presidency.
John J. Metzler is a U.N. correspondent covering diplomatic and defense issues. He writes weekly for World Tribune.com.
