COMFORT ZONE: Vajpayee (left) and Bush during the UN General Assembly in New York

What would one expect when the President of the United States meets the prime minister of India? Exchange of niceties or a road map for a lasting relationship? When 76-year-old Atal Bihari Vajpayee met 54-year-old George W. Bush last week in New York for the second time in 12 months, it was a bit of both. The handshake led to the following exchange:

Bush: How are you Mr Prime Minister?
Vajpayee: I am fine.
Bush: It's a long way to fly but you are looking very good.

PEACEMAKER: Vajpayee with Powell (right) lighting a candle at New York's Battery Park

As a battery of cameramen jostled to capture the two, they fell over each other, and Bush couldn't hold himself back, saying, "This is a crisis of democracy. We have to cope with it. So do you. I am so glad to see you again. I really admire you as a person." (He used similar words when he met Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani in January this year).

For the next 30 minutes, Bush spoke and Vajpayee maintained his enigmatic silence, intervening when he thought appropriate. When, for instance, Bush condemned the killings of political candidates in Jammu and Kashmir, Vajpayee retorted, "They are justifying terrorism as a war for freedom." Prompt came Bush's reply that pleased Vajpayee: "I have heard that in a lot many parts of the world. We will use whatever leverage we have to end terrorism."

What was revealing was how Vajpayee, after brief interventions on crucial issues, left his aides, including External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha and National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra, to do the talking. He smiled and nodded when he found the discussion going in the right direction.

Though nothing substantial was expected from the meeting, both the leaders discussed bilateral issues like defence cooperation, transfer of hi-tech equipment and increase in trade and commerce. Bush concluded by saying that it was his job to lay a strong foundation for mutual partnership, and that it would be up to the future leadership to build on it.

EMOTIONAL BOND: Vajpayee (second from left) meets the families of 9/11 Indian victims

Vajpayee's seven-day trip is a momentous expedition, with many diplomatic hurdles to conquer and an impact to create. His fourth visit as prime minister to the United Nations is clearly an exercise in marking his presence and being counted among the world's top leadership. Even as Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf wooed the global media, Vajpayee engaged in aggressive real diplomacy. During his five-day stay in New York, he met the heads of states from eight countries, including Japan, Denmark and Mauritius. He also met Afghan President Hamid Karzai who thanked India but complained about the West, saying how only 30 per cent of the promised aid had been disbursed.

Unlike in the past, Vajpayee penned his own 10-minute speech. The South Block mandarins and the Prime Minister's Office had put together a 15-page tome covering terrorism, regional economic imbalances and India's resolve to support the world in fighting terrorism. But as far as Vajpayee was concerned, it was in English and boring. So he wrote his own speech, consulting Sinha only after finalising the script. In his inimitable style, he spoke of peace and global development, and stressed that the big picture could be communicated better in Hindi than in a language only civil servants were comfortable with.

If one goes by the number of meetings Sinha has been in and the reception he has received in the US, he too seems to have been adopted by the Bush Administration, much like his predecessor Jaswant Singh. In less than 48 hours, Sinha had met Secretary of State Colin Powell, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill. The most important meeting, however, was with Deputy Secretary of Defence Paul Wolfowitz where Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld dropped in for a brief discussion. Sinha's big moment was, of course, when the Pentagon deviated from convention and gave him a guard of honour, a courtesy reserved usually for the defence minister.

As the prime minister spent time with families of 21 Indians killed on 9/11, he was visibly moved by the poetry of eight-year-old Manish Aggarwal, son of Alok Aggarwal, who died in the US attacks. An emotional Vajpayee promised that the country would never forget those whose family members had fallen prey to terrorism.

Public spats have been a recurring interlude among diplomats and the media witnessed yet another row in New York. When Indian Ambassador to the US Lalit Mansingh came with the country's permanent representative to the un Vijay Nambiar and B.K. Agnihotri, roving ambassador for NRIs, to brief the media on Vajpayee's visit, courtesy demanded that Agnihotri be introduced. Since Nirupama Rao, joint secretary, external publicity, was not aware of Agnihotri's role, she only announced Mansingh and Nambiar, both of whom could have made amends. Neither did. So Agnihotri stood up, introduced himself, and pointed out pertinently that the prime minister's visit was also aimed at addressing the problems of NRIs. Asked about his diplomatic status, Agnihotri shot back, "Ask the Ministry of External Affairs," and left.