New Delhi
28 November 2005
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday received
endorsement from unlikely quarters when a United States lawmaker and India-baiter,
Congressman Dan Burton, said Dr Singh was the "right leader at the right time" and that
Capitol Hill was "very encouraged" by his statements.
"I am very encouraged by the attitude of Prime Minister Singh and," he said in the same
breath, "President Musharraf." He believed that differences persisted on certain issues
like Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, human rights and outsourcing but he was confident
that those could be resolved in a peaceful way.
Nuclear proliferation, Mr Burton was to say later, was another area of concern. On the
civilian nuclear cooperation between his country and India, he personally was "leaning
towards" the nuclear deal. However, he cautioned, India would have to "guarantee" that
separation of civilian and military facilities will be done.
If that is guaranteed, Mr Burton said after a breakfast meeting hosted by the
Confederation of Indian Industry, then the nuclear deal would become a reality. "There
has to be a definite separation [by India] ... a real line of demarcation," Congressman
Burton added for good measure.
Congressman Dan Burton, a Republican who is serving his 12th term as a US
Representative from Indiana, is leading a Congressional delegation to India. He was
joined by six other American lawmakers -- four Democrats and two Republicans -- at the
breakfast table.
Besides trade and foreign direct investment, one issue on which Mr Burton held forth at
some length was outsourcing. He felt that Americans needed to be convinced that there
was equity in trade and that jobs would not become scarce. "A PR campaign is needed
[for] a real perception that outsourcing is not one-way," he said.
On Monday, the Ministry of Defence made a presentation on Jammu and Kashmir to the
delegation with particular focus on earthquake relief and rehabilitation. The state was hit
by an earthquake on October 8. The delegation called on Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh and interacted with parliamentarians led by Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath
Chatterjee. Members of the delegation also held talks with certain young representatives
from Jammu and Kashmir.
The delegation will visit Agra on Tuesday and leave for Pakistan the day after.
Congressman Burton and his colleagues will call on Pakistan President General
Musharraf during their day-long stay in that country.
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