C Raja Mohan Posted online: Tuesday, July 19, 2005 at 0936 hours IST Updated: Tuesday, July 19, 2005 at 1506 hours IST
Washington, July 19: To generate a strong private sector input into the proposed economic dialogue between India and the United States, a high-level bilateral CEO forum was launched here today. This was one of the many agreements and initiatives unveiled at the meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the US President George W Bush.
The CEO forum brings together 10 top businessmen each from India and the US to promote Indo-US economic cooperation in the coming years. The forum is not aimed at lobbying the governments but to provide a smarter basis for economic policy making in both the capitals.
Among the Indian CEOs on the forum are Ratan Tata, Mukhesh Ambani, Nandan Nilekani and Yogesh Deveshwar. Included in the American team are Charles Prince of the Citi group, Warren Stanley of Cargill, and Steven Reinemund of Pepsi.
Giving some muscle to the rhetoric from both Singh and Bush on their shared values of democracy, the two governments today launched the ‘US-India Global Democracy Initiative’.
With their ‘‘solid democratic traditions and institutions’’, India and the US ‘‘have agreed to assist other societies in transition seeking to become more open and democratic’’.
While recognising that democracy ‘‘is a universal aspiration’’, the initiative emphasises cooperation with those countries that have already made democracy a political goal.
Completion of NSSP
With India passing its domestic law on proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the US liberalising its export control regulations on civilian space, nuclear safety cooperation, and high technology trade, the two sides have now proclaimed an end to the ‘Next Steps in Strategic Partnership’ launched in January 2004.
The completion of the NSSP, the two sides say, ‘‘clears the way for even greater engagement’’ in a number of high technology areas.
Disaster Relief Initiative
Building on their cooperation in jointly providing relief to the tsunami victims in the Indian Ocean earlier this year, Indian and US militaries will conduct ‘‘joint and combined military exercises’’. US Pacific Command and the Indian Integrated Defence Staff will be the military leads in establishing ‘‘a dialogue and identify additional military training needs’’ and ‘‘other challenges to a speedy and effective disaster response’’.
Energy Dialogue
Building on a broad range of existing cooperation, the Indo-US energy dialogue will help mobilise ‘‘secure, clean reliable and affordable sources of energy’’. As part of this effort, five working groups have been formed-on oil and gas, coal, power and energy efficiency, renewable energy, and civil nuclear energy. The group on civil nuclear energy will focus on peaceful nuclear energy initiatives including potential cooperation in ‘‘fusion science and related fundamental research topics’’.
S&T Cooperation and IPR
The US and India signed an umbrella S&T Agreement to promote joint research projects in a number of areas. The new agreement for the first time allows for joint funding as well as establishing ‘‘intellectual property right protocols and other provisions necessary to conduct active collaborative research’’.
Initiative on Agriculture
India and the US have launched a knowledge initiative on agriculture that upgrades institutional contacts on agriculture to address the challenges of ‘‘sustainability, productivity and social responsiveness’’.
Washington, July 19: To generate a strong private sector input into the proposed economic dialogue between India and the United States, a high-level bilateral CEO forum was launched here today. This was one of the many agreements and initiatives unveiled at the meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the US President George W Bush.
