02 April 2009
India a Crucial U.S. Partner, Says Obama
Washington — India is a key partner of the United States in addressing a wide range of global economic and security challenges, says President Obama.
“The United States sees India as a global power and a critical partner in helping to deal with the challenges of the 21st century — everything from climate change to poverty to trade to science and innovation,” Obama told reporters in London before his meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the G20 summit April 2.
Both leaders are among the heads of government from nations accounting for 90 percent of the world economy who, as part of the G20 summit, set forth measures to manage the global financial crisis. Obama praised Singh’s role in the proceedings, highlighting the prime minister’s background as an economist and former finance minister whose leadership has put India “along a path of extraordinary economic growth that is a marvel for all the world.”
In a recent speech in Washington, Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg reflected on the transformation of ties between Washington and New Delhi, beginning with the landmark 2008 nuclear cooperating accord, the result of years of intensive diplomacy by the Clinton and Bush administrations.
“Now the stage is set to embark on what I term the third stage of our rapprochement,” Steinberg said. “As nations, the United States and India both know that the third stage is crucial to boosting us into orbit.”
The United States and India can leverage their increasingly close trade and cultural ties led by a growing Indian-American community to spur development and economic growth in the subcontinent, Steinberg said, while taking action to prevent future economic crises by working together to strengthen multilateral financial institutions and promoting reform in global markets. (See “Obama Administration Seeks New Progress in U.S.-Indian Relations.”)
Even as the world grapples with the economic downturn, Obama said, leaders must not lose sight of the challenges posed by climate change. India has understandable concerns that international efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions could hinder its efforts to extend the benefits of economic development to millions of its citizens, Obama said. Under his administration, America seeks to lead by example in deepening its international engagement on climate change issues, Obama said.
Resolving the energy and climate challenge for rising nations such as India and China will take renewed focus, Obama said, and expanded international scientific cooperation to develop emerging green technologies, such as alternative fuels and carbon sequestration — areas where Indian and American scientists show particular potential.
Obama and Singh also discussed ways to expand counterterrorism cooperation between India and the United States. The countries share concerns about violence emanating from extremist safe havens along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and beyond. Terrorism’s threat to India most recently was illustrated by the November 2008 terrorist attack on Mumbai, India’s commercial and entertainment capital, that claimed nearly 170 lives. Leaders from regional rival Pakistan have acknowledged that the attacks were partially planned and executed by extremist groups operating within its territory.
Since the Mumbai attacks, the United States has worked to cool tensions between India and Pakistan, two nuclear-armed South Asian neighbors that have fought three wars since 1947. The Obama administration’s new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan is aimed at using diplomacy, development aid and defense to root out extremist safe havens that threaten all three countries. Obama suggested the new strategy could be complemented by renewed diplomatic engagement between India and Pakistan.
“In a nuclear age, at a time when perhaps the greatest enemy of both India and Pakistan should be poverty … it may make sense to create a more effective dialogue between India and Pakistan,” Obama said.
