NEW DELHI : The Talbott Mission
With U.S. relations with Pakistan and India at a low point, the State Department’s No. 2 official jets to the region this week for some fence mending and horse trading.
The visit of Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott, due in New Delhi on Wednesday and Islamabad on Friday, is intended to personify high-level White House commitment to the two countries, which have felt ignored by the Clinton Administration.
Washington is trying to broker a three-party deal to promote nuclear non-proliferation on the subcontinent. It wants to deliver F-16 fighters to Pakistan in exchange for a verifiable cap on Pakistan’s nuclear program.
To win Indian assent, Talbott, a friend of President Clinton, may be carrying promises of greater Indian access to American-made high-tech wares.
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