The Hindu Business Line : <I>Positive fallout </I>

In his detailed response to a query from a journalist in Islamabad on this, Mr Bush explained that Pakistan's growing energy needs had been discussed, and the natural gas scenario in the region reviewed.

He then went on to say something to the effect that "you want Iranian natural gas. That's fine. Our beef with Iran is not the gas. Our beef with Iran is its ambition to become a nuclear power... "

This effectively means that the US has finally got over its objections to the construction of the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline. But the doubt has now shifted towards Iran and its reaction in case India has to vote to refer it to the UN Security Council on the nuclear issue.

Rush Budget

This year's Budget was a rush job all through. The Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, set the pace on D-day itself, when he made his presentation in Parliament in the morning, followed it up with an afternoon press conference and finished his interviews with the business and economy papers by evening.

The next day, he met all industry associations at a joint meeting to discuss Budget issues and more or less completed his explanations/clarifications within 24 hours of the Budget being unveiled.

And that is not all. The Budget is all set to be passed by Parliament before March 22 — that is, the general discussion, followed by the passage of the demands for grants of the various Ministries and, finally, the Finance Bill. The usual schedule is for a general discussion in March, along with a vote-on-account to carry on Government expenditure in the new financial year. The demands for grants are taken up in April and the Budget is finally passed, along with the Finance Bill, some time in May.

This year, that will not be possible with the polling dates for Assembly elections in five States falling in April and the last polling day stretching till May 8. Hence, the need to hasten the process before Parliament takes a recess for the Assembly polls. Chambers of commerce and all those who have any bone to pick with the Finance Minister's Budget proposals now have to rush with their complaints if they want any rectification.

Talking heads

During his visit to India and Pakistan, it seems the US President noticed another "difference" between the two countries, apart from the "different countries, with different needs and different histories" reason that he held up as the reason for refusing Pakistan a nuclear deal.

The story goes that Mr Bush was intrigued by the fact that while India has a President, he had to deal with the Prime Minister whereas Pakistan has a Prime Minister but he had to deal with the President!

With both democracies more or less conforming to the Westminster model, the US President could not figure out why the different interlocutors.

Had he asked, Gen Pervez Musharraf would have told him that in Pakistan, it is "sustainable democracy," that is, democracy is sustainable in Pakistan as long as the General is in command.

Our New Delhi Bureau