Times of India 
                                           March 31, 2005 

"U.S.-India Relationship to Reach New Heights"

David C. Mulford
U.S. Ambassador to India

It is now official. It is the policy of the United States to help India become a major world power in the 21st century. This is what Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice conveyed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during her recent visit to India -- marking an exciting turning point to years of hard work to transform the U.S.-India bilateral relationship into a true strategic partnership.

Secretary Rice came to India at the request of President Bush, as she said, to share with the Indian leadership "a vision for a decisively broader strategic relationship, to help India achieve its goals as one of the world's great multiethnic democracies. This vision embraces cooperation on a global strategy for peace, on defense, on energy, and on economic growth." It is now clear what she meant by this.

The U.S.-India relationship is based on our shared common values. We are multi-ethnic democracies committed to the rule of law and freedom of speech and religion. Our strong people-to-people ties gain vigor every year. The number of Indians studying and living in the United States continues to grow, as does their economic and political influence.

We also share common interests. In fact, there is no fundamental conflict or disagreement between the United States and India on any important regional and global issue. We work closely together in countering terrorism, share the view that extremist governments have no place in the international system, cooperate in fighting health issues such as HIV/AIDS and polio, and work together to build a much stronger economic relationship.

The U.S. and India are poised for a partnership that will be crucial in shaping the international order in the 21st century. In her meetings with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Foreign Minister Natwar Singh, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Opposition Leader L.K. Advani, Secretary Rice addressed the practical steps that need to be taken to make this happen. In each meeting there was a clear agreement that the U.S. and India must not only broaden their strategic partnership, but move into new and substantively more complex areas.

The Next Steps in the Strategic Partnership (NSSP) initiative launched by President Bush and Prime Minister Vajpayee in January 2004 helped build trust and cooperation in areas of the greatest sensitivity to our two nations - civilian nuclear technology, civil space technology, high-technology trade, and a dialogue on missile defense. Important progress has been made in each of these areas, and more is coming with the expected completion of Phase II in the near future.

Secretary Rice shared with her Indian interlocutors the President's vision that the United States and India must broaden this cooperation to help us achieve our shared objective - making India the global power it can and should be. We must match the rhetoric of our aspirations with a program to realize them. Both of our great nations must take substantive -- and occasionally difficult -- steps to move away from past prejudices and practices into a new world of cooperation and partnership. Secretary Rice has outlined three concrete steps to accomplish this.

First, the United States and India will initiate a senior level Strategic Dialogue. This dialogue will not only address important global and regional security problems, but will move much deeper into engagement on India's defense requirements, including discussion of co-production and addressing India's concern about the United States as a reliable supplier.

This expanded Strategic Dialogue will also include high technology cooperation, preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the creation of a working group to expand contact between our two space organizations, and other security-related areas that take advantage of our respective technological advantages, such as missile defense. We want to develop habits of cooperation and a level of confidence that characterizes U.S. relations with our closest friends and allies so that the successful cooperation we enjoyed on tsunami relief and the crisis to democracy in Nepal becomes routine and a template for future cooperation in managing crises.

Second, the United States and India will initiate a high-level Energy Dialogue to include energy security, expanding cooperation on civil nuclear energy, clean energy, and nuclear safety issues. The United States recognizes that for India to sustain its 7-8% growth rate and to become the global power it aspires to be, it must meet its growing energy demands. The conscious inclusion of civil nuclear energy on this agenda is a significant step by the United States to respond to India's burgeoning energy requirements.

Third, we must revitalize and expand our Economic Dialogue. Key issues on its agenda will be, at a minimum, energy cooperation, freer trade between our two nations, expanded commerce, and environmental and financial issues. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta's planned visit to India this April to sign the Open Skies Agreement is a first major step in this direction. This agreement will both expand and make less expensive travel between our two countries.

Secretary Rice made clear that she is intent on moving this relationship forward at a quicker pace. To help this happen, she conveyed an invitation from President Bush to Prime Minister Singh to visit the United States this summer on a working bilateral visit, to be followed by a visit by President Bush to India later this year or early next year.

In short, relations between our two nations have never been better. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last fall said "the best was yet to come." I am pleased that it is coming so quickly. But for all this to happen both the United States and India have serious work to do. I take great pride in knowing that we have made real progress transforming our strategic partnership into a truly comprehensive relationship.