NEW DELHI, July 14: Even as India and the United States attempt to get a grip on their bilateral relationship in the wake of persistent differences in the nuclear-missile arena, comments by former Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Robin Raphel have confirmed New Delhi's view of the long haul ahead in its ties with Washington.

Raphel, in an interview to India Abroad newspaper earlier this week, called the Ministry of External Affairs ``irrelevant'' and accused it of trying to launch a ``conspiracy'' to oust her in tandem with officials from her own State Department.

Ministry officials in the Capital refused to comment on the American diplomat's unusual interview, only saying they had taken ``note'' of it, but otherwise maintained a dignified silence on the subject.

However, reports from Washington say that the State Department, and especially its South Asian bureau, are said to be ``furious'' with Raphel's remarks, which have not only castigated India, the largest country in the region, but also cast aspersions on the professionalism of its own diplomats.

Raphel will soon undergo confirmation hearings for a new posting, probably to Tunisia, and it is being said that she may have some trouble with them.Raphel has already given way to Karl Inderfurth, the new person in Washington dealing with India, and New Delhi is looking forward to beginning a new chapter in relations with someone who will not, as Raphel did, question the very ``integrity'' of the Indian Union.

Observers say this is the lady's ``swansong'' and India would do well to ignore the end of an unpleasant era.

Raphel started her tenure as Assistant Secretary for South Asia with a bang. In October 1993, she questioned the very Instrument of Accession of Kashmir to the Indian Union, and insists till date that that is the position held by Washington since 1947.

But as analysts and former diplomats pointed out to The Indian Express,

Raphel is factually wrong, as the US accepted the accession of Kashmir and also added that the ``dispute'' in the Valley must be resolved ``taking the wishes of the people into account.''

Small wonder, then, that following Raphel's remarks, which were widely played in India, the Government in Delhi then, led by Prime Minister Narasimha Rao, took the conscious decision to ignore the diplomat and deny her significant access.

But Raphel, a political counsellor in the US embassy in New Delhi before being ``shunted'' upstairs to assistant secretaryship, allegedly by President Bill Clinton himself, never could take no for an answer.

Even though protocol gave her no legitimate right, she insisted on calling on Prime Minister Narasimha Rao and the then Minister for External Affairs Dinesh Singh. Observers then asked whether Clinton would meet India's additional secretary (Raphel's equivalent) every time he visited Washington.

On the eve of her departure from New Delhi in 1993, she told Ministry officials that she had a personal letter from Clinton to be delivered to Narasimha Rao.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.