Avoid Kashmir, Albright told

US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright should steer clear of negative issues, including Kashmir and nuclear non-proliferation, during her visit to New Delhi on November 18 and 19.

Giving this advice, three prominent South Asian experts said that Albright should concentrate on ''institutionalising the United States's relations with India''.

The experts -- former national security advisor in the Bush administration Richard Haass, former US ambassador to Pakistan Robert Oakley and former US ambassador to Bangladesh Howard Schaaffer -- were speaking at the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think-tank. Their talk focused on the Indo-US relations in view of the secretary of state's forthcoming visit, the first in 13 years.

Stating that the situation in the valley was not ripe for any US intervention, the experts said her presence there would raise unnecessary expectations, which cannot be met at this stage.

Schaaffer, who had also served in the US embassy in New Delhi in the 1980s, wanted Albright to reiterate the United States's known position on Kashmir during her discussions with officials. Pakistan should find a solution to the dispute through bilateral negotiations, taking into consideration the wishes of the Kashmiri people.

He said such a reiteration was necessary as the US position is not taken at its face value in India as ''many people over there think that the United States is looking for an opportunity to get involved while many Pakistanis hope that the US should get involved''.

Haass said Albright was not expected to sign any major agreement or make breakthroughs. She was expected to widen and deepen the United States's dialogue with India, initiated last month in New Delhi by Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Pickering.

Haass said the most important part of the trip was simply to have consultations since ''the relationship with India was not characterised by any conflict''. There were differences of intellectual nature between the two countries on nuclear issue and some other minor problems which did not warrant any kind of negotiations, he added.

''We are trying to institutionalise the relationship with India and compartmentalise the differences,'' Haass said, asserting that the process of compartmentalisation must apply to Kashmir so that the US ''could move ahead with the rest of its relationship with India''.

He did not want any single issue to dominate the Indo-US bilateral agenda to the detriment of their overall relations.

He did not share the apprehension entertained in certain US circles that India and Pakistan were on the verge of a war. The region was more stable than it was normally thought to be.

He said India, however, must resolve its differences with Pakistan if it wanted to play a global role and realise its larger ambitions.

Meanwhile, officials sources confirmed that recently-appointed Special Coordinator for Tibetan Affairs in the Clinton administration, Gregory Craig will be part of Albright's delegation. It could not, however, be ascertained if Craig is coming to New Delhi in his capacity as the policy planning director or in his new role. Craig was appointed special coordinator for Tibet after Chinese President Jiang Zemin's recent US visit.

EARLIER REPORT:
US appoints special official for Tibet
The American Plan
US ambassador-designate confident of finding 'common ground' with India

Tell us what you think of this report