The Hindu : Armitage to visit India, Pak. next month

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 18, 2003

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Armitage to visit India, Pak. next month

By C. Raja Mohan

NEW DELHI April 17. The U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage, is slated to visit the subcontinent in early May. The specific dates for his trip to India and Pakistan are expected to be announced shortly.

Preventing an escalation of tensions between India and Pakistan this summer and a review of bilateral relations with New Delhi and Islamabad are expected to be at the top of Mr. Armitage's agenda.

Last summer, when India and Pakistan drifted towards war, Mr. Armitage came to the subcontinent and extracted promises from the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, that he would put an end to cross-border infiltration on a permanent basis.

Mr. Armitage's assurances encouraged India to stand down in the conflict. But there has been disappointment in New Delhi that the Bush administration has been unable to hold Gen. Musharraf's feet to fire on cross-border terrorism. India does not expect any fresh assurances from Mr. Armitage. Nor does it see the prospect for any forward movement in India-Pakistan relations until there is a substantive reduction in cross-border terrorism.

Mr. Armitage's visit, however, provides an opportunity for an honest discussion between the Indian Government and the Bush administration on the challenge of maintaining peace and security in the subcontinent amid the continuing Pakistani support to violence in Kashmir.

The visit is also expected to be of greater value to India in terms of reviving the bilateral relationship with the U.S. The American preoccupation with Iraq has tended to slow down the forward movement in India-U.S. relations.

Although there has been strong political support from the White House for a rapid consolidation of bilateral relations in a number of areas, decision-making appears to have been stifled at the bureaucratic level in Washington. India hopes the visit will ease the obstacles in the path towards intensified cooperation in high technology areas.

Mr. Armitage's trip to the region will follow the National Security Adviser, Brajesh Mishra's visit to Washington in early May.

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