Palin: Hush-hush

New York, Sept. 24: Less than 24 hours after Indian officials raised a toast over the approval of the Indo-US nuclear deal by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the mood in the delegation accompanying prime minister Manmohan Singh has shifted from high optimism to anxiety.

The anxiety is over the language in the resolution that the US Congress has to adopt before the nuclear deal becomes operational.

According to a text obtained by this newspaper, final approval of “the Agreement shall be subject to the provisions of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, the Henry J Hyde United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act of 2006, and any other applicable United States law”.

The Indian delegation worries that a Congressional reiteration of US commitment to the provisions of the Hyde Act, which is controversial in India, will be red rag to the Left parties and the BJP, which will redouble their attacks on the UPA government on this score.

The worries over the political fallout of yesterday’s Senate action are, however, outweighed by the excitement and anticipation in the Prime Minister’s entourage over Singh’s meeting scheduled later today with America’s latest political sensation, the Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

According to Palin’s campaign aides, she is scheduled to have a meeting by herself with the Prime Minister this evening.

Singh has been chosen among only three world leaders here whom she is meeting today without the Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain. The other two are Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.

But after yesterday’s ugly skirmish between the US media and Palin’s aides over access for reporters to the very first meetings in her entire life with any head of state or government, the Prime Minister’s delegation has chosen not to publicise Singh’s date with the former beauty queen who has already turned this November’s American election upside down.

The 34-member Indian media group accompanying Singh and a score or so other Indian reporters here covering Singh’s US visit are certain to make a beeline to see how a low-key, soft-spoken Singh will handle the shrill, outdoorsy Palin on their first official date.

Singh’s formal programme for today lists a meeting with McCain and makes no mention of Palin. Indian officials privately said they had arranged a meeting between the Prime Minister and McCain, who is to be accompanied by Palin.

They were surprised by announcements by the Alaska governor's vice presidential campaign staff that she would have a meeting with Singh all by herself.

Palin’s only familiarity with India or interest in the country is said to be through a few Sindhi families who run their shops at Alaska’s cruise ports during the state’s five-month cruise season.

These families live and do business in the Caribbean islands of St. Thomas and St. Maarten during the rest of the year.

Palin, who got her first ever passport only last year, has, however, appointed an Indian American, Anand Dubey as director of the Enterprise Technology Services Division in her government in Alaska.

She will definitely tell the Prime Minister today that as governor, she appointed another Indian, Banarsi Lal, to the Alaska Pioneers' Homes Advisory Council that inspects the facilities and procedures of her state’s Pioneers’ Homes for old Alaskans who live alone.