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Non-Tech : The ENRON Scandal -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: zonkie who wrote (1068)	1/24/2002 2:40:29 AM
From: zonkie	Respond to of 5185

It looks like you can add Cheney's name to the list of Bush/Lay people who were speaking to Ms Ghandi about the power plant. It sounds like Cheney was trying to put a little pressure on her. There isn't a smoking gun yet but there is a hint of sulphur in the air ___________________ Congress upbeat with success of Sonia US visit Sanjiv Sinha New Delhi, July 2: Sonia Gandhi’s visit to the United States last week is being viewed in Congress circles here as a major step forward in establishing her credentials as a serious politician and the country’s Leader of the Opposition, especially in the international arena. Partymen are particularly upbeat with the extensive and positive response that Sonia’s visit received from various quarters, especially from US administration officials, including Vice-President Dick Cheney, National Security Advisor Condaleeza Rice and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage. Especially so, since this was her maiden official visit to the US as Congress president and Leader of Opposition. Sonia is scheduled to return to Delhi tomorrow after a brief stop-over in London. The fact that the Congress considers Sonia’s venture abroad a major achievement is evident from the fact that it specially fielded senior leader Manmohan Singh, who had accompanied her to the US, to brief mediapersons here today on the outcome of the visit. Singh, who arrived in Delhi ahead of Sonia, spoke at length of the enthusiastic response which the party chief received during her various engagements in the US. ‘‘The trip was very positive in terms of its useful interaction between the Leader of Opposition and top officials of the US administration and prominent Indians settled abroad,’’ Singh said. Singh particularly referred to Sonia’s meetings with Cheney and Rice, which, he asserted, were constructive and useful. The Congress chief is reported to have raised the issue of Nuclear Missile Defence System (NMDS) and her party’s reservations on it in these meetings. According to Singh, Cheney is said to have assured the Congress delegation that efforts were on by the US Government to evolve a consensus on the issue by holding talks with several European countries and Russia which, too, had expressed their misgivings over the project. The overall situation in South Asia and India’s relations with its neighbours, in particular, Pakistan, too came up for discussion in context of the impending visit of President Pervez Musharraf to India. Sonia is said to have reteirated her party’s stand that it was always in favour of negotiating with Pakistan to bring about a peaceful and lasting solution to all pending issues, including Kashmir, but within the overall ambit of the Shimla accord. But it was the area of economic ties between the two countries in the context of the ongoing controversy regarding the Enron project in Maharashtra that elicited the concern of US officials since the state is ruled by a Congress-led coalition. While Cheney, in particular, is reported to have expressed his concern over the unfavourable climate of investment that the Enron imbroglio could cause, Sonia asssured him and other US bigwigs that her party was committed to economic reforms and bringing in foreign investment. She also promised an early solution to the Enron crisis. Singh, however, made light of Sonia’s reported remark to mediapersons in Washington that there were several Prime Ministerial candidates in her party. ‘‘It was said in a lighter vein in response to a specific query,’’ he asserted. Party circles here feel Sonia’s comprehensive and busy programme which began with representing the country at the United Nations conference on AIDS and included meetings with UN General Secretary Kofi Annan, a host of former and serving US Senators and officials and members of the Asia Society and Indian Overseas Congress has given her the much-needed exposure and confidence for her job as the leader of the party. indian-express.com