Sept. 25: What Narendra Modi told Pakistanis from Kozhikode on Saturday, they have heard before.

One day shy of 16 years and six months ago, Bill Clinton had told Pakistanis all that Modi sermonised them on this weekend and more. Clinton was then US President, making the first White House presidential trip to Pakistan in 30 years.

Clinton began his speech at 7.27am Pakistan time on March 25, 2000, by saying that he wanted "to address all the people of Pakistan". Modi stood on the shores of the Arabian Sea on Saturday evening and began his references to Pakistan by saying that "I want to talk to the people of Pakistan from here today."

The then US President had cautioned the people of Pakistan through an address on Pakistani television: "There are obstacles to your progress, including violence and extremism."

Modi said he "can see a lot of potential to make sure that this 21st century becomes Asia's 21st century". But he added: "There is one nation in Asia whose aim is this century does not become Asia's and is associated with terrorism."

The Prime Minister further added: "Terrorism is the enemy of humanity. We need to join our hands to defeat terrorism."

So did the US President as far back as early 2000. "Those who bomb bus stations, target embassies or kill those who uphold the law are... our common enemies, for their aim is to exploit painful problems, not to resolve them. Just as we have fought together to defeat those who traffic in narcotics, today I ask Pakistan to intensify its efforts to defeat those who inflict terror."

Nothing, it would seem, has changed in 16 years. Pakistan remains a dangerous place. In 2000, the Secret Service, which protects the US President, was against him making a visit to Islamabad because they feared for Clinton's life on account of terrorism. But the President was determined to go.

The Secret Service then took unprecedented precautions. A decoy Air Force One without any passengers landed in Pakistan giving the impression that Clinton had arrived. Sometime later, Clinton actually landed in a small, unmarked plane.

In New Delhi, from where Clinton went to Islamabad, no pictures were allowed of his "real" departure, that is, the President boarding this unmarked plane.

In spite of all these precautions, the Secret Service allowed Clinton to stay in Pakistan only for five hours as opposed to five days in India.

Modi predicted in Kozhikode: "A day will come when the people of Pakistan will go against their own government.... The people of Pakistan must ask their leaders to first give secure lives to their citizens."

Clinton too spoke in 2000 of the aspirations of the people of Pakistan to decide their destiny and chart their progress through the rule of law: "We share your disappointment that previous democratic governments in Pakistan did not do better for their citizens."

Clinton admitted: "No one from the outside can tell Pakistan how it should be governed. That is for you, the people of Pakistan, to decide, and you should be given the opportunity to do so.

"I hope and believe you want Pakistan to be a country where the rule of law prevails, a country where officials are accountable, a country where people can express their points of view without fear, a country that wisely forsakes revenge for the wounds of the past, and instead pursues reconciliation for the sake of the future. If you choose this path, your friends in the US will stand with you."

Modi asked Pakistanis to introspect. "People of Pakistan, ask your leaders, both our countries got freedom together. Why does India export software and your country export terrorists?"

Clinton had already provided an answer to that question to the Pakistanis he addressed by quoting none other than Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan.

He recalled that Jinnah had said "as he addressed Pakistan's Constituent Assembly that 'If you work together in the spirit that every one of you is first, second and last a citizen, with equal rights, privileges and obligations, there will be no end to the progress you will make'."

Modi said in Kozhikode: "I want to tell the people (of Pakistan) that if you have what it takes, let us compete to end poverty in our countries. Let us see who gets there first. The people of Pakistan and India will like this competition. Youth of Pakistan, come let us fight. Let us see who ends unemployment first - India or Pakistan. Let us fight against illiteracy. Newborns, pregnant mothers die in both India and Pakistan. Let us see who can save them first."

Clinton too pleaded for cooperation between Pakistan and India instead of wasting resources on weapons that kill.

"Will a costly arms race (with India) help you achieve any economic development? Will these weapons make war with India less likely or simply more deadly? Will it bring you closer to your friends around the world, closer to the partnerships you need to build your dreams?"

Will Modi's sermon work? Unlikely. Strictly from an American viewpoint, Clinton's sermon, followed by his successor George W. Bush's threats, worked. The US has bent Pakistan to its will in the limited sense of Washington's core interests.

Pervez Musharraf jettisoned his proxies in Afghanistan, the Taliban, which helped the US punish those who plotted the 9/11 terrorist attacks and recreate Afghanistan in America's security image.

Today, 16 years after Clinton's speech, security and intelligence cooperation between Islamabad and Washington is intense. Pakistan does everything the US wants to ensure the safety and work of American and Nato forces in Afghanistan.

There are verbal skirmishes, differences, minor problems, but Clinton's speech was a turning point and 9/11 was a catalyst in changing Pakistani policy.

Modi's effort may be water off the duck's back. The US is a superpower; India is not.

Besides, the Americans have gifted Pakistan aid to the tune of $30 billion since 2001. Speculation is that much of this aid money has ended up in private accounts in Switzerland, Panama on the Bahamas. Why would the Pakistani leadership bite the hand that feeds them?