Pope's visit
Government condemns protests
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Oct 27 — Even as the government today allayed fears of any disruption of the visit of Pope John Paul II next month due to planned protests of the Sangh Parivar, the Catholic Church described the VHP’s demand for an apology by the Pope for alleged atrocities on Hindus in Goa during Portuguese rule as "distasteful".

While the External Affairs Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh, whose remarks led to a walkout by the entire opposition in the Rajya Sabha, said the government was committed to making the visit of the Pope a "glittering success", the Union Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, in his reply in the Lok Sabha, categorically condemned any protests including the burning of the Pope's effigies, against the visit.

The External Affairs Minister and the Home Minister, in their replies to concerns expressed by the members of both Houses, pointed out specifically that the Pope was visiting India at the invitation of the government. "Pope John Paul II is not only the revered head of a great religious community, but he is also the Head of State of the Vatican. He is coming to India at the invitation of the government," the ministers said.

Meanwhile, Delhi Archbishop Alan De Lastic lauded the government’s efforts to make the Pope’s three-day state visit to India from November 5 "one of the best made to Asia".

At the same time, the Archbishop said "the demand for an apology from the Pope is distasteful. How far back in history can we go. Do you expect Macedonia and Greece to apologise for Alexander’s invasion of India. Instead of raking up the past, we should join hands in the great task of nation-building".

Stating that he did not like the idea of a dialogue between the Pope and the Sangh Parivar, the Archbishop said "we are all Indians. We can have a mutual dialogue provided it is strictly religious".

The Archbishop regretted the government’s decision to backtrack on its earlier promise to celebrate 2000 as the "Year of Christ" to commemorate 2000 years of Christianity in India.

"First they agreed to declare it as the year of Christ. Then they decided against it. I am not happy with the decision", he said.

Stating that he was not aware whether the Pope would raise the issue with the government during his visit, the Archbishop said there was a programme to release a postage stamp to mark 2000 years of Christianity. It could be done either on Christmas or later, he said.

Strongly condemning the contents of a pamphlet issued by the Southern Baptist Union of the USA allegedly calling for mass conversion of Hindus during Divali, the Archbishop said "the Christian work should not be offensive to others".

Clinton to visit India in Feb

WASHINGTON, Oct 27 (PTI) — US President Bill Clinton will visit India in February next year, Deputy Trade Representative Susan Esserman said here today.

"The President is going to India in February and looking on this visit very, very carefully," Ms Esserman, who will visit India on Monday. told Indian correspondents.

"This is a very important aspect of our relationship, and it will be very important to promote a stronger and more effective economic partnership," she said.

Referring to her own upcoming visit, she said it was "an ideal moment to promote a strategic economic partnership".

On next month’s global free trade talks to be held at Seattle, Ms Esserman said she was confident that both India and USA wanted a set of negotiations to be launched that "is manageable, that enables countries to participate in the negotiations, that is not overloaded with too many subjects."

As a general matter, she said: "We are moving in the same direction as India in terms of the scope and breadth of the negotiations. We would tend to agree with India and share concerns, for example, about launching a full-fledged investment agreement" as desired by the Europeans.

Ms Esserman, who will be visiting India for the first time, said: "The time is perfect for a number of reasons. You have a government committed to accelerating economic reform. We have the preparations for launching a new round of WTO negotiations and we have a number of bilateral issues to discuss."

"Here, most fundamentally, we are at a time when India and the USA have a real convergence of interests in the WTO. The new agenda in preparation is ideally suited to both of us," she said, adding that "there are important issues to pursue. India has always been a leader in the WTO and we want to continue to work with them as the issues evolve."

She said she would also be discussing bilateral issues, the USA has been pursuing in the WTO the balance of payments case and "we will be discussing further steps in that case," Ms Esserman said.

India has indicated its intention to raise tariffs in agricultural products, she said, adding that this was another area she would be discussing.