Meet with Hillary Clinton indicates Mamata Banerjee's value on national scene

KOLKATA: More than asking for anything concrete during her meeting with Hillary Clinton, Mamata Banerjee is likely to capitalize on the mileage she will derive from it. The West Bengal chief minister is scheduled to meet the US secretary of state at Writers' Buildings on Monday.
Observers in the US consulate believe that Hillary wants to meet Mamata as the importance of regional leaders is growing; Delhi is no longer the last word in Indian politics.That she is keen on meeting Mamata is ample testimony to the latter's growing importance on the national scene, something the mercurial chief minister should be able to use to carve out a stronger position for herself.
There are concrete issues which are of importance to the US, which Hillary may or may not raise during her meeting with Mamata. For instance, pleading the case of Wal-Mart which wants to enter the Indian retail market. But it is well understood that the move to open up the retail market to FDI has got stalled primarily because of Mamata's opposition. There is, therefore, the growing realization in the US that besides the government in Delhi, it is also important to build a rapport with powerful regional leaders like Mamata.
The fact that Hillary is arriving in Kolkata straight from Dhaka lends credence to the belief that she would like to understand firsthand the reasons for Mamata's opposition to the sharing of Teesta water with Bangaldesh. With elections due in Bangladesh next year, the failure to clinch the Teesta water sharing deal will be a handicap for the Sheikh Hasina government and could strengthen fundamentalist forces there. And, the US will not like that.
If Hillary suggests sharing of Teesta water with Bangladesh on a 50:50 basis, Mamata might point out that this could be too high, and in any case, there was not enough water in the river because of hydel power projects coming up in its upper reaches. She would argue in favour of a reasonable quantum of water for north Bengal and may also suggest seasonal variations in the formula for sharing.
On the part of the Mamata Banerjee government, there seems to be little formal preparation for the big meeting ahead. "We haven't received any such indication," says a consulate official. If anything, senior ministers of the state government appear to be looking forward to the meeting with some trepidation.
While the government is keen on raising with the secretary of state the question of American investments in Bengal - a state starved of new investments - the apprehension is that Hillary may use the opportunity to push the case of Wal-Mart setting up a retail chain in the state. "Such people don't come without any rhyme or reason," as industries minister Partha Chatterjee puts it. Like in the case of SEZ status for Infosys, FDI in retail is also a bitter pill that Mamata may just refuse to swallow.
Observers agree, however, that a visit by the US secretary of state is a big occasion and the state government should be ready to reap the maximum mileage from Hillary's meeting with Mamata. The time is more opportune for the government because Mamata's coming to power - unseating the Left Front government after 34 years of rule - has generated a keen interest in America and the US government may be interested in extending a helping hand in its success.
If the secretary of state leaves Kolkata impressed with the "progress" that has been achieved by the new government in its first year, it may pave the way for American businessmen taking a closer interest in Bengal as an investment destination. It has been a long time since - not since the days of Singur and Nandigram agitation - an American business delegation has visited Kolkata. Convincing the businessmen that land will not be a problem in setting up industries in the state is a hurdle that will have to be crossed later.
Showcasing Bengal to Clinton will send a favourable message back to Washington and may help loosen the purse strings of multilateral funding agencies for the state. Agencies like the World Bank have not funded new projects in the state for some time. One of the last was modernization of the district hospitals. Though, overall, the importance of such funding agencies in India is believed to have gone down, their help may still be of importance to a government which is finding it difficult to run its public projects for shortage of funds.