NEWSLINKS
US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTION 99
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

J&K massacre dominates Vajpayee-Clinton summit

George Iype in New Delhi

The massacre of 35 Sikh villagers at Chati Singhpora in South Kashmir set the tone for the first-ever summit between Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and US President Bill Clinton in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Following the killing, the twin subjects of Kashmir and crossborder terrorism took up most of Clinton and Vajpayee's time at the Hyderabad House meeting.

The massacre -- one of the worst in recent history -- was also the subject of discussion between External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and between National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra and his American counterpart, Samuel 'Sandy' Berger.

Informally, discussions on the massacre of members of a religious minority continued to dominate the luncheon that Vajpayee hosted for Clinton at the Ashoka Hotel.

Official sources said President K R Narayanan would also take up the matter with Clinton when they meet at the Rashtrapati Bhawan this evening. A Rashtrapati Bhawan official said Narayanan would express deep anguish and outrage at the happenings in Kashmir to Clinton when they have a formal meeting.

Officials said the decision to incorporate Vajpayee's condemnatory message on the massacre at the end of his opening statement during the release of the 'Vision Statement' was taken to ensure that Clinton too condemns it.

"The massacre of the villagers by the militants in fact acted as the backdrop to the Clinton-Vajpayee summit. It was an unfortunate incident, but the killing occurred in the nick of time when Clinton is still here in our country," an official told rediff.com

"By doing so, we clearly succeeded in forcing President Clinton to take it up during his statement also," the official said.

In fact, Clinton's official engagements in India began with him expressing serious concern at the terrorist massacre during his brief informal meeting with Prime Minister Vajpayee soon after the ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhawan.

In the next two days, as Clinton tours Agra and Jaipur, his key officials -- Albright and Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott -- will remain in Delhi to carry forward the talks with Indian ministers and officials on Kashmir, crossborder terrorism, nuclear proliferation and the controversial Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

In the wake of the latest massacre, the Indian government will submit to the US delegation official statistics on the killings by Pakistan-sponsored terrorists in the Kashmir valley in the last one decade.

Officials believe the Sikh massacre and the need to strongly warn Pakistan to stop crossborder terrorism will now be the key points in President Clinton's agenda during his weekend stopover in Islamabad.

CLINTON VISITS INDIA : The complete coverage

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report