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Though annual summit meetings became the norm only in 2008 the
forum of major economies representing nearly 70 per cent of the world
population and 85 per cent of the gross world product, signalled the
arrival of new India on the global scene. It was no longer a country of
snake charmers and a perennial aid recipient, and the icing on the cake
came in March 2000 when President Bill Clinton visited India and
addressed the joint session of parliament. This was less than two years after
his rhetoric of sanctions and isolation of India over the nuclear tests.
Shifting SandS
There were limited political exchanges between India and Saudi Arabia
after the visit of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to the Kingdom in April
- As discussed earlier, the long-winding 26-point joint declaration
issued during her visit (India, Foreign Affairs Record 1982 ) dealt with
many international issues but was economical on the bilateral relations.
Differing worldviews and limited interest convergences prevented any
meaningful dialogue. Prince Saud al-Faisal, who became the first Saudi
Foreign Minister to visit India in April 1981, headed the Kingdom’s del-
egation for the NAM summit hosted by Mrs. Gandhi in March 1983. In
subsequent years, however, there were no political contacts between the
two countries.
One had to wait more than a decade after the Berlin Wall to see a
meaningful engagement. The visit of Jaswant Singh initially scheduled for
October 2000 had to be postponed to January 2001 due to last minute
scheduling issues. Only a few months earlier, Singh became the first Indian
foreign minister to visit Israel wherein he flagged the domestic Muslim
population as an essential reason for the prolonged absence of diplomatic
relations (Varadarajan 2005 ).
On the eve of Singh’s original schedule to the Kingdom, an unnamed
official told The Hindu that “[i]t is not necessary to underestimate the
nature of the Saudi Arabia’s relationship with Pakistan (but) ... It is also
not necessary to limit Indo-Saudi relations within the box of Saudi-
Pakistan relations” (Raja Mohan 2000 ). Jaswant Singh, however, was
more forceful in delinking Pakistan. Speaking to reporters in Riyadh at the
end of his January 2001 visit, he observed that concerns over the Pakistani
factor regarding his visit “would be misreading India’s intentions and
belittling the wisdom of Saudi leadership.” According to him, his “visit to
Saudi Arabia stands on its own, and is not directed at any third country”
P. R. KUMARASWAMY AND MD. M. QUAMAR