Kumar Vs Kramer

EVEN before the euphoria over the Gujral-Clinton tete-a-tete could wear off, another spat, and quite a nonsensical one at that, has clouded Washington-New Delhi relations. The cancellation of the Indo-US Defence Policy Group (DPG) meeting is reflective of the delicate relations between the two countries and how easily things can go wrong. While American officials are miffed at the cancellation of the meeting, Indian defence ministry officials are unhappy with "the officially sponsored leak and the personalised attack on defence secretary Ajit Kumar" from Washington.

The dispute is over protocol. The meeting, the third of its kind since 1995, is a dialogue at the senior governmental level to discuss various defence and strategic issues between the two countries. This year it was scheduled in Washington from November 4 to 6. But last week, the Indian government requested that it be 'postponed'. The reason: while the Indian delegation was to be led by Kumar, the American delegation was being led by assistant secretary of defence for international security affairs Franklin Kramer, who ranks lower than the Indian defence secretary in the order of protocol. New Delhi would have liked the US delegation to be led by under secretary of defence for policy Walter Slocombe.

In fact, the US under secretary of state Thomas Pickering had sought to resolve this issue when he came to Delhi last week. Sources say he suggested that Kumar could have delegation-level talks with Kramer, while his superior in the department would host a lunch for Kumar.

Besides, there was a meeting fixed up between Kumar and US defence secretary William Cohen (who in the Indian parlance would be called the defence minister). But this was obviously not acceptable to the Indian officials.

A senior defence ministry official says that if Kumar goes to Washington, "there is nothing wrong to expect that he would deal with his counterpart there. It isn't just a matter of protocol but propriety." He said India had offered to send an additional secretary as head of the delegation to Washington for the DPG, but the Americans objected. "They can't decide for us. Our additional secretary is equivalent to their assistant secretary." But the Indian explanation is not convincing. It does not explain how former defence secretary T.K. Banerjee met Kramer for the DPG meeting in October 1996 in New Delhi and how Banerjee's predecessor met Kramer's predecessor in Washington in 1995.

It is indeed a little strange that Kumar should have suddenly got on the "high horse", notes a former Indian diplomat. Says he: "A certain pattern has been followed in the last two years and we need some good justification now to abandon that pattern." After the manner in which the Gujral-Clinton meeting went and the highly successful visits by US assistant secretary of state Karl Inderfurth and under secretary of state Pickering to New Delhi, these are avoidable irritants.

And it isn't as if the nature of bilateral discussions would have differed qualitatively in any way from the discussions in the past two years. At a time when bilateral ties are on the mend and efforts are being made on both sides to try and improve them, it is hardly wise to throw away a chance of discussing political-defence issues. "If the Indian government thinks there is nothing much to be gained by these discussions and that the Americans are downgrading them, they should detach themselves from the exercise itself," says the Indian diplomat. "National prestige is relevant, but more important is what is to be gained by the country. That should be the deciding factor."

바카라 웹사이트It is difficult to fathom why this issue has been precipitated days before the scheduled meeting. Why wasn't it sorted out before the November dates were fixed. A defence ministry official denies that the November dates were firm dates: "They were tentative dates and we are working on the schedule."

He says the Indian government has been discussing this issue with Washington for the last few months: "It is not a sudden development. While the discussions were going on, Washington leaked the story." He was irritated that terms like pettiness and immaturity had been used for Kumar. But a spokesman of the US embassy says the dates were fixed and that the DPG meeting was postponed at the request of the Indian government. "We are working closely with the Indian government to explore new dates for these talks," the spokesman adds. "Our dialogue on defence matters is an important aspect of our overall bilateral relationship and we look forward to rescheduling it."

The Americans argue that Kramer is the right person because he deals with the entire gamut of the defence relationship with India and Slocombe is not the right person since he does not deal with the nitty-gritty of these issues. No wonder they are somewhat exasperated with the pique shown by Indian officials. So, is it going to be Kumar vs Kramer or Kumar vs Slocombe?