US President arrives on maiden India visit
by Vikram Vishal

     New Delhi: US President George W Bush arrived in New Delhi on Wednesday evening along with First Lady Laura Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and a strong delegation of officials for a three-day visit. US President's special aircraft Air Force One landed at the Palam Technical Area at 7.35 pm (IST), where he was received by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh who broke the protocol to welcome Bush on his maiden visit to India. A brief welcome ceremony was organised at the airport for Bush, First Lady Laura and other guest accompanying the US President. Soon after the welcome ceremony, Bush was escorted to a limousine and the motorcade headed for Hotel Maurya Sheraton where he will be staying for the next thee days. Heavy security arrangements were made on the way to the hotel with armed security personnel guarding the roads through which the President's convoy passed by. Barriers were erected at several places and general traffic was diverted to other routes. Besides the Prime Minister, his wife Gursharan Kaur, National Security Adviser MK Narayanan, Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran, Minister for Science and Technology Kapil Sibal were also present along with several other dignitaries at the airport.

      Meanwhile, security has been beefed up across the country, particularly in and around New Delhi. Indian and U.S. agencies have made unprecedented security arrangements for Bush visit as Communists and several other groups have planned protests across the country. Bush will receive a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on March 2 in the morning. Following the reception, he will visit Rajghat to pay homage to the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. Later, he is scheduled to have a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at Hyderabad House, which will be followed by Singh hosting a lunch for Bush at the Hotel Taj Palace. On Thursday afternoon, the US President will meet some prominent religious leaders. President APJ Abdul Kalam will host a formal dinner in the evening. United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and leader of Opposition L K Advani will also call on the US President. On March 3, he will leave for Hyderabad to attend a few functions and return to the capital in the evening. Bush will address the intelligentsia at a function at Purana Qila in the evening.

      The visit of Bush is seen primarily revolving around the nuclear deal involving the civilian nuclear energy cooperation between India and the United States. President Bush in his visit will be pressing economic ties as he says it is crucial to the United States. Bush's free-trade message is likely to be overshadowed by a stalled deal on India's civil nuclear program, as well as protests against the US President and his policies. After months of talks to finalize a deal hammered out in principle during a July visit to the White House by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, it appears that President Bush will have no agreement to sign during his short stay. Under the deal, which requires congressional approval, the United States would end restrictions on supplying India with civilian nuclear technology while India would open its civilian nuclear sites to inspectors for the United Nations. India has not signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. India has insisted that its military nuclear installations be exempt from international scrutiny. Determining which civilian sites to open for inspection has been difficult for negotiators. The president also will make a visit to Pakistan, where he will hold talks with President Pervez Musharraf. Bush plans to use the daylong visit to underscore U.S.-Pakistani cooperation, even though Human Rights Watch has called on the president to urge Gen. Musharraf to end military rule. Meanwhile, Kashmiris have pinned high hopes on Bush's visit though they acknowledged India has always maintained non- intervention by a third party in resolution of the issues relating to the valley. Bush had earlier told Pakistan's state television channel that the Kashmir issue would come up during his visit.

US envoy Mulford is at it again

      New Delhi: The clamour over his controversial remarks on India's stance on the Iran uranium enrichment issue has barely subsided, but this has not stopped US Ambassador to India, David C Mulford from staying out of the newspaper headlines. Mulford courted controversy again on the eve of U.S.President George W Bush's first visit to India when he decided to issue invitations for Bush's March 3 address to the public from Delhi's "Purana Qila" (Old Fort), a national heritage site. A livid Indian Government, which is hosting Bush as a state guest, stepped in immediately to say that if Ambassador Mulford wanted to host an event for his president, he could do so at a commercial venue and not at a national heritage site, which was the preserve of the government. The spat between South Block (the headquarters of the Indian Foreign Office and the Prime Minister's Office) and Roosevelt House (the U.S.Ambassador's residence in Delhi) had all the makings of a public relations disaster. Official sources confirmed that there was an exchangeof communication between the two, and the matter was finally resolved with the Indian Government issuing fresh invitations under the joint sponsorship of the Confederation of Indian Industry, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the American Chamber of Commerce and Industry. When official sources at the American embassy were asked whether Ambassador Mulford had withdrawn hsi invitations, there was a curt response that said that the Indian Government had issued an "additional invitation" for reasons of security and parking". The faux pax notwithstanding, there is a possibility of some invitees missing out on the event because of unexpected shenanigans in the corridors of power.

Bush makes surprise visit to Kabul

      Kabul: US President George W Bush on his first visit to Afghanistan said on Wednesday that he was confident about bring Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden to justice. Addressing a joint news conference here with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Bush also said that every effort must be made to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons. He hailed Afghanistan's progress under President Hamid Karzai since the fall of the Taliban. Bush was in the Afghan capital on a a five-hour visit that included a stopover at the strategically-located Bagram Air Force Base, the main center for U.S. troops in the country. A group of low-flying helicopters carried Bush and his entourage from Bagram, where Air Force One landed, to Kabul, where he was received by Karzai. "Welcome, the president, to Afghanistan," Karzai said as the two leaders paused for photographs on a red carpet. He also presided over a ceremonial ribbon-cutting for the U.S. Embassy and give a pep talk to troops at Bagram before continuing on his announced trip to India and Pakistan. "This is an opportunity to show our support for a good friend and ally and emerging democracy," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said of the Afghan stop. "We stand firmly with the people of Afghanistan as they are charting their own future."

     The Afghan stopover was not announced officially until Air Force One landed at Bagram. "There are security precautions that were taken and we are confident in the security precautions that have been taken. One of those was not informing you of the trip until now," McClellan told reporters. It was Bush's second visit to a war front. His first was a secret trip to have Thanksgiving dinner in 2003 with U.S. troops in Iraq. This is Bush's first trip to Afghanistan, where a October 2001 U.S. invasion eventually toppled the Taliban regime that had harbored al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and allowed terrorist training camps on its soil. Bush arrives in the world's largest democracy later Wednesday under tight security. Bush is hoping to sign a critical nuclear accord with New Delhi, a move which is raising political hackles in both nations. On his trip, the U.S. leader is also trying to boost security and economic ties with India, and try to soothe tensions between India and neighboring Pakistan, also a nation with a nuclear capability. Pakistan is a key U.S. ally in the war on terror, but many in Washington want to see Islamabad make stronger efforts to dismantle terrorist training camps on its soil. Under the proposed nuclear deal between New Delhi and Washington, the United States would supply nuclear technology and fuel desperately needed by India to fuel its booming but energy- starved economy. Speaking with Doordarshan, Bush acknowledged the nuclear issue is a tough one for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. "Both of us have to convince our respective people in the interest of having a civilian nuclear program that's separate from a military nuclear program," Bush said. "In India, I understand the politics is going to be difficult. There is still a lot of work to be done, and we just need to continue to come up with an agreement that both of us can live with," Bush said, adding "We will keep trying." India has pledged in return to separate its military and civilian nuclear programs and open up the civilian ones to international inspection. But some members of the U.S. Congress, who must approve the deal, believe this deal will undermine the international Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which India has refused to sign.

    On the other side, some Indian scientists and nuclear industry supporters say the pact will erode their nation's military ambitions. Singh is eager to ease these fears. "There has been no erosion of the integrity of our nuclear doctrine either in terms of current or future capabilities," Singh said recently. Despite the potential political fallout, there is a lot to gain for both sides from such a deal going ahead, analysts have said. Speaking on Air Force One while traveling to India, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said some sticking points for the deal remained. "The one thing that is absolutely necessary is that any agreement would assure that once India has decided to put a reactor under safeguard that it remain permanently under safeguard," the Associated Press quoted Rice, as saying. Rice said she was uncertain whether there would be an agreement during Bush's trip, but said the success or failure of his visit would not be determined by that. "We're still working on it. Obviously it would be an important breakthrough for the United States and India," she said.

March IAEA vote on Iran on merit: Saran

      New Delhi: Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran said on Wednesday that the March 6 IAEA Board of Governors vote on Iran's uranium enrichment program would be decided on merit. Refusing to spell out New Delhi's stance on the issue, Saran told reporters that India had "no intention of dropping out" of the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline. "How India will vote if a certain resolution comes up before the IAEA on 6 March will be determined by the contents of the resolution which is brought up for vote," he said. "I don't think it is worthwhile for us to speculate on how India will vote without knowing what the contents of the resolution are. So let us wait and see," he added. He noted that the meeting would provide an occasion for the IAEA Board of Governors to debate and consider the report that has been put forward by the Director General El Baradei and then it will take a decision. "When the time comes and if and when there is a draft resolution, we will, as always, judge it on its merits," he said. At the last IAEA meeting on February 4, India had joined 26 other countries in voting for referral of Iran's nuclear issue to the UN Security Council, a move that had triggered intense protests from the UPA government's supporting allies Left parties. Meanwhile, the Chairman of Iran's Expediency Council, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, has said that Iran's right to use nuke technology for civilian purposes is being abrogated under pressure from the United States. He said that Iranian Government was of the view that Iran's neighbours and friends stand by it on this issue and not succumb to the ''double standards'' and ''illogical'' demands exerted by the West. Stating that the Indo-Iran energy ties were significant, Rafsanjani also told India's Ambassador Manbir Singh that the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project, besides its economic advantages for the three countries, could turn into a regional peace pipeline and pave the way for economic developments in the region. The Tehran Times reported that during the meeting on Tuesday in Dubai, Rafsanjani highlighted the deep cultural and historical ties between the two countries and said bilateral ties could be promoted in oil, gas and transportation fields. Singh acknowledged Iran's right to nuclear technology and pointed out that the issue should be resolved through talks, patience and more flexibility. He also said that India was in need of energy in order to achieve economic progress.

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