08-23-2005, 04:45 AM
Tango, Alpha, Charlie; Will the plan:f*(k ?
Sonia Gandhi cancels her US visit
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ MONDAY, AUGUST 22, 2005 11:41:59 PM ]
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NEW DELHI: Sonia Gandhi's trip to the US is off. Last week, the Congress party sent its regrets to the Clinton Foundation in New York. The foundation would have been her main host for a conference of world leaders.
The official reason is that the visit from September 10-17 would clash with an AICC session and a Congress chief ministers' conclave. In fact, however, the rescheduling has been necessitated by the concern to avoid giving offence to the Republican establishment in the US with which the Manmohan Singh government has important business to do.
<i>While in New York she would have been the guest of former US president Bill Clinton's NGO. She was also scheduled to visit Washington DC and had put in a request to meet US president George Bush. </i>
But someone, somewhere discovered that the 'optics' of the visit would be curious particularly since the leading light of the Clinton Foundation is Clinton's Indian American buddy, Sant Singh Chatwal, owner of Indian restaurant chain Bombay Palace.
Besides, there are problems with Chatwal himself. Although the high-profile restauranteur has got the red carpet treatment here earlier, the reappearance of some old cases against him renders his company an embarrassment risk.
The Congress chief appreciated the view in the government that it would have been odd for her to travel on a Democrat invite and then want to meet the Republican Bush. The Republican tango with India is now well known as Bush has gone the extra mile to sign a path-breaking nuclear agreement with India.
Sonia Gandhi cancels her US visit
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ MONDAY, AUGUST 22, 2005 11:41:59 PM ]
Sign into earnIndiatimes points
NEW DELHI: Sonia Gandhi's trip to the US is off. Last week, the Congress party sent its regrets to the Clinton Foundation in New York. The foundation would have been her main host for a conference of world leaders.
The official reason is that the visit from September 10-17 would clash with an AICC session and a Congress chief ministers' conclave. In fact, however, the rescheduling has been necessitated by the concern to avoid giving offence to the Republican establishment in the US with which the Manmohan Singh government has important business to do.
<i>While in New York she would have been the guest of former US president Bill Clinton's NGO. She was also scheduled to visit Washington DC and had put in a request to meet US president George Bush. </i>
But someone, somewhere discovered that the 'optics' of the visit would be curious particularly since the leading light of the Clinton Foundation is Clinton's Indian American buddy, Sant Singh Chatwal, owner of Indian restaurant chain Bombay Palace.
Besides, there are problems with Chatwal himself. Although the high-profile restauranteur has got the red carpet treatment here earlier, the reappearance of some old cases against him renders his company an embarrassment risk.
The Congress chief appreciated the view in the government that it would have been odd for her to travel on a Democrat invite and then want to meet the Republican Bush. The Republican tango with India is now well known as Bush has gone the extra mile to sign a path-breaking nuclear agreement with India.