Pak gets Clinton, India gets Napolitano
Indian police officials and bomb-squad personnel inspect the site of an explosion outside Delhi High Court in New Delhi on May 25, 2011. A low-intensity bomb exploded outside the busy Delhi High Court triggering panic, yet no injuries were reported, according to the Press Trust of India (PTI).
Two days after a bomb exploded outside the Delhi High Court, US Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano arrived in the Indian capital to make the right noises about Indo-US cooperation on counterterrorism, reports AP. But with neighboring Pakistan getting a surprise visit from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the same day, for India it's deja vu all over again.
The BBC reported that Clinton's visit is intended to smooth ruffled feathers in Pakistan, taking up where Senator John Kerry (a.k.a. "the Pakistan whisperer," according to Newsweek) left off. A day earlier, the US withdrew some of its "advisors" from Pakistan at Islamabad's request.
Clinton is slated to meet Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, army chief General Ashfaq Kayani and Ahmad Shuja Pasha, chief of Pakistan's spy agency, the Inter-services Intelligence Directorate (ISI), the Beeb said.
Meanwhile, what does India get?
On Thursday, Napolitano met with India’s Defense Minister A.K. Antony and Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, the AP said. And today Napolitano is slated to meet with India’s Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Friday for the big hit: the joint launch of a so-called U.S.-India Homeland Security dialogue — that the US promises will increase communication and information-sharing between the two countries on issues that affect security.
The real dope?
Apparently, there has been little or no interaction between mid-level intelligence officers in recent years. Everything was limited to formal, official interactions by the Indian side, because America's intelligence officers were enjoying too much success recruiting their Indian counterparts.