Press Trust of India Posted online: Wednesday, July 20, 2005 at 1118 hours IST
Washington, July 20: The United States has said the new partnership with India is a reflection of its "growing role, power and influence" in the world and is not directed at any third country, including China.
The agreement with India "stands on its own" and is not intended to be a counterweight to China, under-Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns said adding "this is a significant point of departure for our foreign policy, not just in South Asia but worldwide".
Asked about Pakistan, Burns said Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice has telephoned Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to apprise him about the agreements with India.
Maintaining that both South Asian countries are important to the US, burns said, "These are issues where US policy intersects, and there are issues where we can have individual relations with both countries".
Acting State Department Spokesman Adam Ereli told reporters that the agreements on a broad range of issues are a recognition of India's important role and growing influence in the world and a further strengthening of a very close and growing strategic importance.
Asked whether these agreements are intended as a counterweight to China in the region, he said, "I really think that's missing the major point. The major point here is that you have a country which is the world's largest democracy, which is growing and becoming an increasingly influential player in the world scene in all aspects. And that there are opportunities for engagement and there are opportunities to help marry India's ambitions and India's capabilities with the United States and mutual interests."
"And that is what this agreement does. And it's based on the reality that is India. It's not based on, you know, other countries acting as push factors for something that really, for a dynamic that exists sui generis, independent of these other considerations," Ereli said.
He said the agreements have been signed keeping in mind "the growing influence of India, the growing power of India and the opportunity for working closely in developing a strategic partnership in ways that benefit both countries and frankly the international community as a whole."
Pointing out that the Secretary of State is fully on board on these agreements, he said, "This is something that the Secretary has been very, very actively involved in and represents an important step forward not only in our bilateral relationship, but I think in our strategic relationship in the region."
"The announcement yesterday by the President and the Prime Minister of India, I think point to, frankly, a transformed relationship. One that the Secretary in her remarks called a global partner and what we agreed to yesterday, I think, is testimony to that enhanced role that India plays in the region and how the United States sees India as a partner, both economically, politically and strategically," he added.
Ereli said though attention has been focused on the nuclear side of the agreements, there are a number of things on which the two countries are cooperating including launching a CEOs forum to enhance private sector energy and deepen the bilateral economic relationship.
"It talks about modernization of India's infrastructure. It talks about a US-India knowledge initiative on agriculture. There's also a democracy development side to the agreement where we had a global democracy initiative. We talk about disaster relief initiatives, an US-India defense relationship. And we also look forward to signing a science and technology framework agreement for joint research in space and civil space cooperation agreement."
As far as the specific issue on nuclear cooperation goes, he said it was a significant achievement in that it addresses India's important energy security needs for the future.
"It also strengthens our mutual nonproliferation efforts. Specifically, the United States agrees to work toward full civil nuclear energy cooperation with India, including cooperation and trade in the whole, throughout the whole aspect of the peaceful nuclear energy sector. But India also agrees reciprocally to take a number of steps that are important to meeting control and nonproliferation concerns. And that obviously are common to all countries that aspire to the same thing that India aspires to.”
"Specifically, these include identifying and separating civilian and military nuclear facilities, filing a declaration regarding its civilian facilities with the IAEA, voluntarily placing its civilian nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards, signing and adhering to an additional protocol," he said.
