Building Indo-U.S. Trust

AT THE END of another high profile visit to New Delhi by an American official, there is greater bilateral optimism. India will be more than satisfied with the Defence Secretary, Mr. Donald Rumsfeld's reiteration of the assurance that the U.S.-led campaign against terror will not be confined to Osama bin Laden and the Al-Qaeda network. It will be pleased also with Mr. Rumsfeld's endorsement, perhaps for the first time by a senior U.S. official, of a role for New Delhi in shaping post-Taliban Afghanistan. His remarks after talks with the Defence Minister, Mr. George Fernandes, that the U.S. will pursue terrorist networks wherever it finds them were clear cut. The atmosphere in official New Delhi was apparently much more congenial than during the visit of the Secretary of State, Gen. Colin Powell, with both sides in the interregnum taking steps for better understanding of each other's objectives and concerns in the aftermath of the September 11 terror attacks. The positive signals from Washington and the measures it has initiated in the last few days, including the effective banning of two Pakistan-based terrorist groups operating in Jammu and Kashmir, have apparently cleared the diplomatic air of distrust. New Delhi's concerns over terrorism and its overseas sponsorship are, it is clear, finally being addressed by the U.S.

India will welcome the promise of increased military cooperation held out by Mr. Rumsfeld, raising visions of a strategic partnership for the common good in the future. Invited to the U.S. by his counterpart, Mr. Fernandes was thus justified in expressing satisfaction over the outcome of his interaction with Mr. Rumsfeld. The two countries have an opportunity to discuss the specifics of military cooperation when the Defence Policy Group meets next month. Released from the shackles of proliferation-related sanctions, a steadily expanding strategic relationship received a jolt on September 11. As the two countries are set to resume their interrupted strategic dialogue, it is clear that the shape of the long-term relationship must await the outcome of the current campaign against terrorism. For, in the jigsaw of global diplomacy in the aftermath of the terror attacks in New York and Washington, bilateral relations across the world remain in limbo as strategic visions remain blurred beyond recognition.

Of immediate relevance to India and its geostrategic interests is the declaration by Mr. Rumsfeld that New Delhi will not be denied its rightful say in the building of a post-Taliban political structure in Afghanistan. With its centuries-old cultural and other ties, India can offer help in a big way for implementing the massive rehabilitation and reconstruction plan that the U.S. has reportedly drawn up in conjunction with the European Union. The plan is said to cover all facets of life, including areas in which India has expertise to offer: education, health care and infrastructure. India found itself on the losing side in the war against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan but played a quiet role in the following decade. Its support for the secular Rabbani Government in Kabul pitted it against the Taliban and Pakistan. It worked closely with the U.N. in trying to arrive at a power- sharing arrangement among the mujahideen factions in the wake of the civil war that followed the withdrawal of Soviet troops. Its vital stakes demand that it work actively in concert with Iran, Russia and the Central Asian republics, with which Delhi has maintained close relations, for the formation of a liberal, democratic, representative coalition to return Afghanistan to modern civilisation.

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