Both India and the US share an interest in a stable Pakistan: Harry G Barnes

Barnes:Ronald Reagan took one year to send his new ambassador to India, but he appears to have chosen the right man. Harry George Barnes Jr, 55, a friendly and pleasant man, with blue eyes, is a career diplomat who began his life as a junior officer in the US consulate in Bombay 31 years ago. Educated at Columbia University, he has since served in Prague, Moscow, Kathmandu and Bucharest in various capacities. His last assignment was in Washington as director-general of the US Foreign Service. He speaks eight languages including Hindi which he is perfecting by reading Hindi newspapers every morning. The first American career Foreign Service man to serve as ambassador to India in 25 years. Barnes is keen on mending the strained relations between India and the US. His modesty and relaxed manners will stand him in good stead in New Delhi and he may yet achieve what his distinguished predecessors like Galbraith and Moynihan could not. Soon after presenting his credentials to President Sanjiva Reddy last fortnight, Barnes spoke to India Today's Senior Editor S. Venkat Narayan at his elegant official residence about his job which isn't exactly going to be a bed of roses. Excerpts from the exclusive interview:Q. India has been disappointed by recent American policies in this part of the world. You have a very unenviable task ahead of you. How do you propose to go about your job?A. I would perhaps agree that it's not an easy job. I have come at a time when there are several matters on which we do have differences. My job is helping people to understand what we are doing and why we are doing it. There is a reservoir of goodwill towards the US in this country. When I travelled in the US before coming here I sensed a similar reservoir of goodwill towards India. I have got that base to build on.Q. Before coming to India you had said that you would stress to President Reagan how important India can be in any long-term look at this part of the world. How did your meeting with President Reagan go before you came here?A. I had a chance to see the President before he went to Cancun. So I concentrated my conversation on that forthcoming event because that was to be his first meeting with Mrs Gandhi. I said, "Mr President, it's a terribly important meeting and I hope you and the Prime Minister will make a good start. If you do that, my job will be much easier." He said, "I'll try." Some US and Indian delegates who were present at Cancun told me the meeting went off fairly well. I felt pleased that the President held on to the promise to me and I'm grateful to the Prime Minister too.Q. There have been some reports to the effect that President Reagan and his advisors are not keen on recognising India as a major power in South Asia. It is being thought that the US is giving F-16 aircraft to Pakistan because of this perception.A. Basically there is a misperception here. There is confusion between the question of the importance of India and our proposing to the Congress that we provide military and economic assistance to Pakistan. I don't think they are the same thing. India in terms of its size, population, industrial development and culture is simply important. There is no doubt about that. Pakistan is the focus of our attention right now in light of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Both the Carter Administration and the Reagan Administration have decided to support Pakistan in a situation which seems to us to be radically different because of the Soviet action. I would say that because this region is important to us we are concerned about the Soviet action in Afghanistan..preferred-source-banner{ margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:10px;}Q. The Americans had been consistently following a pro-Pakistan policy even when there were no Russians in Afghanistan. They frankly acknowledge that Pakistan wants help mainly to build up its military forces vis-a-vis India and they have pointedly refused to give public or private assurances to New Delhi that Washington would not permit American weaponry to be used in an Indian-Pakistani conflict.A. My own experience in preparing to come to Delhi just does not bear this out. To me it is very clear that it was the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan which is the motive force behind our proposing to the Congress this assistance to Pakistan but I understand very well the concerns that Indian officials have expressed to us over these months based on India's own experience.Q. During the previous conflicts Pakistanis used American arms against the Indians and you surely do not mean to say that the F-16s are going to be an adequate deterrent to the Russians in case they decide to attack Pakistan ? By giving weapons like F-16 are you going to make Pakistan any stronger to counter Russian might?A. What is important in this area is stability and progress in a peaceful situation. What disturbs us precisely about the Soviet invasion is that it brings in an element of conflict into the area which was not there before. No small country, if attacked by a huge country, can defend itself all that easily. A small country should have some means to deter a large country at least to make that large country think twice before trying to cause trouble. Through our military assistance if Pakistan is able to raise its defence potential to make the Soviet Union think twice or even thrice, that can serve the purpose which I believe is in our interest: discourage any further Soviet advance in this direction. One can't predict what sort of pressure the Soviets are prepared to put on Pakistan, but we do believe this will at least reduce the chances of that sort of dangerous pressure. Both India and the US share an interest in a stable Pakistan that is not under threat.Q. As US ambassador to India what are your most important tasks in order of priority?A. One task is essentially to listen. That is going to take a lot of meeting with people, travelling around the country to understand what are India's priorities. What happens in India has got to be very important for US. People in this country believe that what happens in the US is important. If there is some truth in that basic assumption then that gives us a framework for doing things. I believe India is too big a country, too important a country - which has enough confidence in itself because of both its past and its potential - to be anyone's chamcha. It gives a basis for identifying those areas where we now have very close interest -maybe identical or parallel interests, but not contradictory ones-and enables us to find ways of reinforcing those interests. It doesn't mean we expect you to like our giving F-16s to Pakistan: it doesn't mean that you are going to expect us necessarily to like your attitude on some other problems on which we differ, say on the question of Afghanistan. At least we are more understanding about what each other is worried about, and look for ways to eradicate, to reduce those differences. My other task is to identify the areas where we have got parallel, joint interests, and try to see what I can do to expand those, to reinforce those. For example. one area which offers considerable promise is trade. We already are India's largest customer for exports. We also sell more to India than any other country does at this time. But if you look at a trade of over 3 billion dollars between countries our size, it is not very much. We ought to be able to expand that trade considerably. That's one area I am going to be working on. Secondly, you have very impressive scientists in this country. Some of the people in our own country who are leaders in a variety of scientific fields happen to be of Indian origin. We ought to be able to work out a longer range plan of scientific collaboration. Q. If relations between India and the US arc not good, ifs possible something is the matter with the way we are going about dealing with America. What do you think the Indians should do to improve relations with America?A. Maybe you expect too much of us and we expect too much of you. Let's try to think more carefully about what is on the other's mind, what the other's perspective is likely to be, why we come up with problems in a certain way. I think some Americans look at India as one big problem. We're three times as big as India area wise, but you've got three times as many people. That influences the American mind: How do you manage that sort of a country? Besides, you are the victims of your free press because you write about your problems. Foreign correspondents come here, they travel around, they can see what the problems are and so the whole world knows what India faces. Whereas if it was a closed society, not only would there be no foreigners around, people in the country themselves wouldn't be talking about some of the problems. In this sense what Indians can do is help Americans get a better perspective on a contradiction. You are, according to some statistics, the tenth most developed country in the world. According to other statistics, you are the poorest country in the world. So, what are you? In talking about your own country, help the Americans understand some of these paradoxes.Q. A lot of people here believe that we are getting a raw deal from the US because the Americans think we are a satellite of the Russians. Is this true?A. My own judgment at this point of time is that India is pursuing her own interests, not anybody else's. I have served in the Soviet Union for some time. I have some understanding of Soviet policies and Soviet relationships with other countries. I believe India is too big a country, too important a country - which has enough confidence in itself because of both its past and its potential - to be anybody's chamcha.Q. What are Secretary of State Alexander Haig's views on Indo-US relations?A. When I met Haig in Washington he said. "We've got to tend our relations with India."Q. What has the KGB got against you? They have been alleging that you work for the CIA.A. I don't take that very seriously. I suppose the KGB is not interested in better Indo-American relations. And therefore if they can do something to discredit me, they would try. That's probably the motive for the attacks which have appeared. They apparently aren't a terribly efficient organisation: If they think I'm part of the CIA I must wonder about their talents!Published By: AtMigration Published On: Oct 23, 2013--- ENDS ---

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Both India and the US share an interest in a stable Pakistan: Harry G Barnes

Ronald Reagan took one year to send his new ambassador to India, but he appears to have chosen the right man. Harry George Barnes Jr, 55, a friendly and pleasant man, with blue eyes, is a career diplomat who began his life as a junior officer in the US consulate in Bombay 31 years ago.

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