WASHINGTON: US Commerce Secretary Ron Brown’s scheduled visit to India, Pakistan and Turkey has been cancelled because of the protracted budget crisis that resulted in a Government shutdown over the past two weeks.
A senior official said even though a compromise had been reached between the White House and the Republican controlled Congress to have a temporary continuing to provide for Government to function again, it did not envisage, funding for the visit. “So, for all practical purposes, if (the Brown trip) is off,” the official said.
Mr, Brown, the official said, is “quite naturally very disappointed” because he “had been looking forward particularly to his return visit to India’ ‘and for the opening of the New Delhi chapter of the United States India Commercial Alliance (USICA).
The official said that Mr. Brown had been cagerly looking forward to visiting Calcutta and his trip there would have been the first by a US Secretary.
Sadar blast accused Shot in ValleyArticle extracted from this publication >> January 10, 1996
