House panel chief for better Indo-US ties

The chairman of the Congressional Panel on Asia-Pacific, Doug Bereuter, has said that India's economic reforms and its new friendly approach to its neighbours provide a ''good basis'' for continuing improvement in Indo-United States relations.

During a question-answer session after his speech in Washington on Friday, he acknowledged the existence of some scepticism on this count following the sale of arms worth 360 million dollar to Pakistan last year.

''It is an issue, we tried to put behind us,'' he said, explaining that the US had not provided 28 F-16 aircraft paid for by Pakistan and instead decided to sell them to a third country and compensate Islamabad by their sale proceeds.

He said that Americans had ''gradually'' been coming to the conclusion that ''this largest democracy in the world (India) could be a major ally, friend and a major business partner of the US.''

''I think there is a bipartisan recognition on Capitol Hill (congress) about the potential to enhance our relationship in all its respects and focus more on Indo-American relations,'' he added.

Bereuter is a senior member of the Republican Party which commands a majority in the US congress, and he was speaking at the Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based conservative think-tank.

Bereuter said that India, both under the previous Congress administration and the new United Front government, had made ''remarkable'' changes in opening up business and investment opportunities which were important to the US and other interested countries.

He said that the H D Deve Gowda government had also taken some ''very constructive steps'' towards its neighbours, including its traditional rival, Pakistan.

To drive his point home, Bereuter referred to India's offer to resume the high-level dialogue with Pakistan which broke down there years ago, and its goodwill gesture to Nepal and Bangladesh which led to the settlement of long-pending river water disputes.

''I expect to play a part in helping further strengthen Delhi-Washington ties," he added.

He said he did recognise the ''dramatic changes'' under way in India, reflecting a continued openness in economic sphere.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Bereuter pointed out that India had realised the need for repairing its relationship with the US and western European democracies.

Earlier, in his written speech, he said recent elections in South Asia seemed to have produced a new atmosphere of compromise and mutual understanding among many nations of the region.

In this context, he recalled having introduced a resolution in the house recently congratulating India, Bangladesh, and Nepal on their recent agreement on sharing and developing the region's water resources.

''I hope that during the coming year this atmosphere of good neighbourliness can also extend to relations between India and Pakistan," Bereuter remarked.

He said the United States had ''important'' security interest in India. The passage of the Brown Amendment, which he supported, would ''help clear away some constraints we have had on building a productive relationship with Pakistan and will do so without seriously aggravating tensions on the subcontinent.''

He did not see security issues diminishing in the new 105th congress which began its terms last month.