New Delhi: Indo-US ties, already on a roll since President Bill Clinton's trip to this country in March, are expected to scale new heights when Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee visits Washington in mid-September.

The visit's importance goes beyond the three agreements -- on trade and investments, environment and a mutual legal assistance treaty -- the two countries are expected to sign during the trip, observers say.

Its significance lies in the reaffirmation of a "new chapter" in bilateral ties, they say.

Indian officials do not subscribe to the view of some analysts that the visit, coming as it does at the fag end of Clinton's term in office, is unlikely to achieve anything substantial. They said Indo-US relations have reached a point where it is no more confined to the personal equations between their leaders. And that there will be continuity in relations is reflected by the interest shown by the rival contenders for the presidency, Democratic nominee and Vice President Al Gore and the Republican contender George Bush Jr in meeting with Vajpayee.

Gore is hosting a lunch in Vajpayee's honor, while efforts are understood to be under way to arrange a meeting between the Indian prime minister and Bush, despite his busy campaign schedule.

"Indo-US relations have undergone a qualitative change since President Clinton's visit and now cover a whole gamut of our relations," a senior External Affairs Ministry official said.

That does not mean there are no differences. But the important change is that both feel confident enough to discuss contentious issues, particularly nuclear non- proliferation, without the fear of hurting the sensitivities of the other. "That comes only when relations between nations reach a certain level of maturity," one official noted.

While the nuclear issue is sure to figure in Vajpayee's talks with Clinton, no change is expected in the known stand of the two countries on it. Washington wants New Delhi to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), but after the Senate rejected the treaty, it realizes that sermonizing India on the subject would be of no use. In fact, the Senate rejection has helped Washington to understand better the compulsions of India and accept New Delhi's efforts to reach a national consensus on the subject.

India attaches considerable importance to the Joint Working Group set up by the two countries to combat terrorism, which has met twice and is understood to have led to exchange of intelligence and other cooperation.

Vajpayee would acknowledge the contribution made by Indian Americans and non- resident Indians, particularly those engaged in the information technology (IT) sector, in giving India a high profile as an IT powerhouse in the US by journeying to the Silicon Valley, where a number of these big names in business are based.

Apart from his talks with Clinton, one of the main engagements of Vajpayee in Washington, where he arrives on September 14, would be an address to the joint session of Congress, a rare honor given to visiting dignitaries. Vajpayee will also meet with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and be hosted at lunch by members of the Indian caucus of Congressmen. Vajpayee would also dedicate the Mahatma Gandhi memorial in the US capital during his three-day stay there.

During his visit to New York from September 5 to attend the UN Millennium Summit, Vajpayee will also address the Asia Society's annual dinner and attend a business meeting with US industrialists and investors. A number of bilateral meetings between him and various world leaders have been arranged on the margins of the UN summit.

In San Francisco, he will address a public function organized by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry in coordination with the World Affairs Council and the Commonwealth Club. He is also scheduled to address the students of Stanford University and the University of California in Berkley.

Vajpayee, who arrives in New York on September 5, will return home on September 19 after a stopover in Amsterdam, making this the longest foreign trip undertaken by him since his government assumed office in October last year.

India Abroad News Service