NEW DELHI: The US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbot had not come with any package of incentives to lure India into accepting American nonproliferation agenda for India. This was disclosed by Salman Khurshid the Minister of State for External Affairs.
Khurshid said that Talbott had not made any offers but his visit was significant for the atmospheres which were excellent.
He said that the visiting American Came across as a very sensitive sympathetic person who has come with a clear brief from President Clinton. But there were no extraneous punches that one associates with American diplomats from time to time the minister added.
It is clear that top on the agenda of Talbott was to clear the atmosphere in Indo-US relations. Thanks to the media reactions to Ms.Robin Raphel’s statements on Kashmir the Americans are now clearly inclined to keep in mind popular feelings before articulating or initiating any policy towards India. Although the media had at times overreacted Khurshid confessed that it had helped us.
Significantly Kashmir was barely discussed at any level during Talbott’s brief sojourn in the Indian capital. Unlike in the recent past when it seem as though Kashmir was the main focus of Indo US relations it along with the general human rights question figured very low in Talbott’s discussions with the Indian officials
On the other hand nonproliferation figured prominently though Khurshid added that nonproliferation was not viewed through the prism of the F16 issue implying therefore that India is not unhappy with the American delinking of its nonproliferation concerns vis-a-vis India and Pakistan.
Article extracted from this publication >> April 15, 1994
