US ignored India for 22 years; Clinton visit changed all: Sant Singh Chatwal

The United States had "ignored" India for over two decades, but a new chapter in bilateral ties opened in 2000 when then president Bill Clinton visited the country, NRI hotelier Sant Singh Chatwal said today.

No US president had come to India since Jimmy Carter's visit in 1978. This was a mistake on part of the successive US administrations, he said.

"I told the then American President Bill Clinton that don't just ignore India which is becoming a superpower in Asia and the world. Clinton agreed with me and later visited India," Chatwal said while replying to his felicitation here. 

Chatwal, Trustee of William J Clinton Foundation and chairman of Indian-Americans for Democrats, revealed that Clinton had asked him to become an advisor on Indo-Pak.

Clinton also sought his help in improving the Indo-US relations and his visit to New Delhi in March 2000 marked the beginning of a new era in bilateral ties, Chatwal said. 

Speaking on the occasion, civil aviation minister Praful Patel said the US-based businessman had played a key role in securing the landmark Indo-US civil nuclear deal. 

Patel admitted he had recommended Chatwal's name for Padma Bhushan in a letter written to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

The Padma award for Chatwal had spared a controversy.