Indian Ambassador Optimistic
East-West Wire, March 17, 2006

HONOLULU (Mar. 17) – “We are not in violation of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty because we have never signed it, nor will we. But, we will never try to undermine the NPT either.” India’s ambassador to the United States, Ronen Sen, responded to criticism that the recently signed Indo-U.S. nuclear agreement undercut the NPT. Sen went on to say that the only people surprised by the nuclear agreement were those still “trapped in a mindset of the past.”

The Ambassador made his remarks during a luncheon speech Thursday (Mar. 16) at the East-West Center.

Sen made it clear throughout his talk the new mindset should be one of optimism. And, a good part of that optimism is due to recent changes in policy. “None as dramatic as the development of relations with the United States,” the ambassador added.

He characterized the recent trip of U.S. President George W. Bush to India and the positive outcome that resulted as a “fundamental reaffirmation of (our) relationship with the United States.” The agreements signed in New Delhi were “good for both countries” Sen claimed, adding that the closer relationship between the two nations “makes the world safer.”

One part of the world that may not agree is India’s large neighbor to the north, China. Many analysts have cast the New Delhi accords as being aimed at containing Beijing. Not the case says Sen. “The strategic partnership (with the U.S.) is not aimed against any country, including China.”

The Indian envoy did admit that New Delhi has “some outstanding territorial issues with China, and some difference in the area of proliferation,” but he was quick to add, “We don’t like to talk of India or China, rather India and China.”

Sen also stressed in his 45-minute address that the new relationship between the United States and India went far beyond the nuclear element that has claimed most of the media attention. “The partnership has brought tangible benefits to both countries,” Sen said, adding, “We have entered into a new framework of cooperation.”

The ambassador went on to name numerous fields and endeavors that would benefit from the closer cooperation between the two nations. Included were such areas as joint military exercises, cyber security, procurement, co-production, energy, aerospace, and increased trade. The latter now totaling $40 billion a year, a figure Sen said should double in the next few years. He said the two countries have come together in a manner that “would have been inconceivable a couple of years ago.”

Addressing the touchy subject of outsourcing, Sen noted that the value of goods and services purchased by India from the United States far outpaced the economic value of some American jobs going to his country.

Continuing to cast the new Washington-New Delhi ties in an optimistic light, Sen said, “I don’t see any clouds on the horizon.”