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No grand design was behind it. Still, President Clinton chose the perfect day to begin his recent visit to the Indian subcontinent. Mar. 20 is Holi in India, the joyous festival of colors celebrated as the first day of spring. The symbolism couldn't have been more appropriate for the visit -- and for relations between the two nations, which, after 52 chilly years, began to thaw on the first day that Clinton arrived. India rolled out the Orient's most lavish red carpet -- and kept it under his feet throughout his trip.
As Bombay-based correspondent for Business Week, I was a bit puzzled by the downbeat coverage this visit received in the U.S. If nothing else, Clinton genuinely seemed to be enjoying himself. Along with bilateral talks with Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and meetings with Cabinet ministers and India's Parliament, he visited the Taj Mahal with daughter Chelsea and offered U.S. aid to clean up the holy Ganges River.
He danced with village belles from a Rajasthan village cooperative, but refused to sit atop an elephant (the symbol of the opposition Republican Party in the U.S.). He administered small-pox vaccine to children, then met Chandrababu Naidu, India's first "computer minister" in "Cyberabad," formerly known as Hyberadad.
Finally, in Bombay, his last stop, he allowed a sightless boy to stroke his lapel at an unscheduled stop, shopped for antiques, and talked with what seemed to be real passion about India being a model for the developing world in a speech to India's most powerful businessmen and entrepreneurs.
As his entourage left Bombay's posh Oberoi Hotel bound for the airport and then Pakistan, a senior Clinton aide remarked: "India was real, real." What followed in Islamabad was not the Indian experience. In India, Clinton was treated like royalty. In Pakistan, he was snubbed by an unbending dictator.
NEGATIVE BUNCH.
This was the first time I've covered a U.S. Presidential trip, and it was an eye-opening experience. Days began at 5 a.m., with the White House press corps back in the hotel around midnight -- only to file reports until 3 a.m. Sleep was rare. So was any serious coverage of India.
Truth is, I found the reporters who follow the President day and night to be a cynical and negative bunch. Typically, they would speak to no one -- no analysts, few Indians, and no officials. Every day, all 200 of them would take out Clinton's wish list, tick off what he did or didn't get, and report on the success or failure of the trip accordingly. All they did was watch and keep their own jaded scorecard.
Using that scorecard, it would be impossible for U.S. readers to understand the significance of this trip. It was a resounding success in every other way. Two of the world's greatest democracies came together after being estranged for 52 years. India and the U.S. recognized that they share a common focus in prospering in the New Global Economy.
NEW PARTNER.
And even if you put economics aside, India is the perfect foil for China's ambitions in Asia -- the one country that can stand up to the Middle Kingdom. Last week's Economist, which has Clinton's South Asia trip on the cover, describes India as "the belle at the new geopolitical ball."
I think this trip will be remembered as a historical milestone -- the point at which the belle of the ball switched partners again. The India-Russia axis is no more. India has shed most of its socialist ties with Russia, after years of hoping to win a seat on the U.N. Security Council (even though Russia supports India having such a seat, and the U.S. still opposes it). This visit made tangible that India has a new friend in the U.S., a partner in technology, and one with similar democratic, pluralistic, and political values.
Yes, I have read and seen the same things about Clinton that have been so widely reported. I know of his reputation as a charmer and seducer. But he was superb on this trip. He said all the right things and made all the right moves, especially the rapport struck with Prime Minister Vajpayee, who interacted with Clinton as would an Indian uncle spending time with a favored nephew.
MOVING MOMENTS.
Judging from the crowds that turned out in the cities Clinton visited, India was aglow. The country is used to royal visits, having hosted them for centuries. But a real sense of admiration and generosity toward the American head of state was evident. Clinton saw everything there was to see of India: poverty and princes, squalor and splendor.
Among the many moving moments: As Clinton left the historic Indian Parliament building, he was mobbed by MPs from all over -- tribals, rustics, godmen, saints, city sophisticates, and brahmins. This is a hardened lot. But they were so touched by Clinton's speech and the momentousness of the occasion that they all wanted to shake his hand. It was like a celebration of Indian democracy. It was marvelous.
And when Clinton visited with village women from Jaipur, they really didn't know who he was. So they treated him, as all gracious Indians are wont to do, like their next-door neighbor. They told him their troubles and triumphs, and danced with him. Everyone was charmed -- even top Indian execs such as Anand Mahindra of auto maker Mahindra & Mahindra: "U.S. business in India needs an escort, someone who is brave enough to go where no man has gone before. Clinton is that escort. He's taking a machete and cleaning the undergrowth that was obscuring the view of India for business. He's a cowboy, but the most acceptable face [of the U.S.] to the Indian market."
HIGH-LEVEL EXCHANGE.
I know of Clinton's reputation for sliding out of tricky situations -- the nickname "Slick Willie," the Monica Lewinksy affair, and the impeachment debacle last year that left the Republicans in the U.S. Congress looking like zealots obsessed by their hatred of the man. Clinton may be a consummate actor, having led the Indian people on. But even critics like Larry Pressler -- the former Republican senator from South Dakota who was in India watching the entire proceedings under the aegis of the U.S. India Business Council -- told me that they'd never seen Clinton so effective.
India certainly was ready for this love fest. Nearly two dozen business deals were signed -- not a lot in dollar terms, just $4 billion, but a very good beginning that could lead to a regular exchange of high-level officials and technology, scientist to scientist, doctor to doctor.
Was this love affair real, or just an infatuation? My sense is that, looking back on this trip in a year or two, Americans will be surprised at how much the Indo-U.S. relationship was changed for the better.
Kripalani covers India for Business Week from Bombay
EDITED BY DOUGLAS HARBRECHT
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