To: Mohan Marette who wrote (877 ) 2/24/2000 10:15:00 PM From: Mohan Marette Read Replies (1) | Respond to
**OT**Karl F Inderfurth-'Our fascination with India remains strong today'(Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs Karl F Inderfurth delivered this address at the Twenty-Third Annual Merze Tate Lecture in Diplomatic History at the Howard University) Undersecretary of State Tom Pickering is quoted as saying that for too long 'South Asia has been on the backside of the U S diplomatic globe'. Of course this is true geographically, but it has also been true in terms of our policy priorities . That, I am pleased to say, is changing- as evident in the White House announcement that President Clinton will travel to South Asia, specifically to India and Bangladesh, in March, the first presidential travel to the region in over two decades. 'South Asia 101' In the 19th century Mark Twain visited India and called it 'the land of dreams and romance, of fabulous wealth and fabulous poverty... of genii and giants and Aladdin lamps, of tigers and elephants... country of a hundred nations and a hundred tongues... mother of history, grandmother of legend, great-grandmother of tradition.' at the dawn of the 21st century, we no longer view it as a land of elephants and maharajas. India is now seen for what it truly is: an emerging economic powerhouse and world power, a dynamic nation forged from amazing diversity, and a successful democracy with over a billion people. Tomorrow : 'One of the best kept secrets of the 1990s was the emergence of the Indian economy from the socialism of its past into a free market- or at least a much freer one...' 216.32.165.70
