The Hindu Business Line : Bad beginning

THE US Secretary of State, Dr Condoleezza Rice, and, indeed, by implication, the US President, Mr George W. Bush, have started their innings with India, in the latter's second term, on an inauspicious note that does not bode well for amicable relations between the two countries at least in the immediate future.

They have, by refusing to reconsider the denial of visa to Mr Narendra Modi, damaged the prestige of the Indian Government, in general, and the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, in particular, and have escalated a discomfiture to the dimension of a discord which will leave a bad taste in the mouth for a long time.

L'affaire Modi has thus graduated from one affecting an individual, whatever the merits or otherwise of the treatment meted out to him by the US Government, and regardless of his position as a Constitutional functionary, to one questioning the standing of India itself.

When India's External Affairs Ministry recommends in an official note verbale delivered to the US Embassy the grant of a diplomatic visa to Mr Modi, it must be assumed that it has done so after due consideration of all the facts and circumstances bearing on the case.

The Embassy, undoubtedly with the support of the State Department, in view of the likely political fallout, does the unthinkable in diplomatic conduct for a foreign Government and disregards the endorsement.

Thereafter, the Prime Minister himself makes a statement in Parliament unambiguously expressing his, and the Government's, concern and regret, describing the action of the US Government as "uncalled for" and fervently appeals for reconsideration. These are very strong words in diplomatic parlance and must have signalled to the US the importance attached to the matter by India.

The US throws out the Prime Minister's direct appeal as well, unmindful of the affront that this signifies.

Contrast this with the consideration shown by the US Administration to the plea of Rajiv Gandhi in letting go scot-free the son of Mohammad Yunus who had been arrested in a drug case in the 1980s and was facing a prison sentence of 35 years.

With its adamant stand, the US apparently wants to convey the message that its interest in upholding and maintaining religious freedom in India is more than that of the Indian government. How preposterous!

B. S. Raghavan

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