World

U.S., India Make A Deal

September 15, 2000 / 2:42 PM EDT / AP

President Clinton and India's prime minister, celebrating a new era in U.S.-Indian relations, agreed on a broad expansion of cooperative programs Friday but apparently fell short of overcoming thorny differences on nuclear issues.

"It's inconceivable to me that we can build the kind of world we want over the next 10 to 20 years unless there is a very strong partnership between the United States and India," Mr. Clinton said during a photo session in the Oval Office with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Earlier, Vajpayee joined Mr. Clinton at a welcoming ceremony on the White House South Lawn and said: "This is a time of new hope and new opportunities in Indo-American ties."

Disagreements over nuclear issues remained, but as the day unfolded a strong sense emerged of a new comfort level between the former Cold War rivals and a perception that problems can be dealt with in a trusting atmosphere.

Agreements were announced on enhancing cooperation on such issues as trade, investment, counterterrorism, counter-drug issues, energy and the environment, among others.

A trade agreement on textiles and apparel should significantly increase sales opportunities for American companies, Mr. Clinton said. Under the agreement, India will establish tariff ceilings that will keep its border taxes on American textile and apparel products from going above certain levels.

"This agreement paves the way for U.S. producers of textile and apparel products to expand shipments to India, one of the world's largest markets with significant promise for competitive U.S. producers and exporters," U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky said.

The chief bilateral problem is India's refusal so far to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which has yet to take effect. The United States has signed the treaty, but the Senate has refused to ratify it. The Mr. Clinton administration has tried to persuade India to sign and ratify regardless of what the United States does, arguing that it would be in India's national interest.

India has said it would not stand in the way of the test ban treaty's implementation, indicating that once major powers such as the United States and China ratify it, India will be prepared to follow.

In the meantime, India has vowed to keep a moratorium on nuclear testing, which Mr. Clinton praised at the South Lawn ceremony. The 30-minute event attracted a throng of invited guests, including many Indian-Americans.

Vajpayee, 75, has been hobbled by a bad knee throughout his U.S. visit. Departing from custom, he remained seated as Mr. Clinton spoke to the gathering. A planned mid-afternoon news conference was canceled because Vajpayee complained of exhaustion, White House press secretary Joe Lockhart said.

Vice President Al Gore, the Democratic presidential nominee, said at a private meeting that he will resubmit the test ban treaty to the Senate as one of his first acts as president if he ielected, according to Bruce Reidel, a National Security Council official.

A joint statement issued late Friday said India will "continue efforts to develop a broad political consensus" on the test ban issue with the purpose of "bringing these discussions to a successful conclusion."

India also reconfirmed its commitment "not to block the entry into force of the treaty," the statement said. That will require ratification of all countries with nuclear weapons or other types of nuclear programs and a number of countries without nuclear programs.

India's sense of vulnerability as a result of having nuclear-capable neighbors, China and Pakistan, prompted Vajpayee to order nuclear tests in May 1998. Pakistan followed with tests of its own. This year, Mr. Clinton described the subcontinent as perhaps the "most dangerous place" in the world, but he refrained from such comments during Vajpayee's visit.

In response to the weapons tests by the South Asian rivals, the administration imposed sanctions against both. Most have been lifted since then. Reidel indicated sanctions against India will remain until it ratifies the test ban treaty.