New Delhi
19 July 2005
The situation in India's immediate neighbourhood including Pakistan
and Nepal came in for particular mention in the discussions Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh had with US President George W Bush when they met in the Oval Office on the
first day of his inaugural state visit to that country.
The US under secretary of state for political affairs, Mr Nicholas Burns, and Mr Mike
Green, senior director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council said the US-India
Global Democracy Initiative has "consequences for American interests in South Asia"
and that "one of the things that (the US is] now doing much more frequently with the
Indians is having conversations about how we can cooperate together on issues like
Iraq, Afghanistan, Nepal [and] Burma."
They said India and the US would be contributing 10 million dollars each to the United
Nations fund for democracy which is intended to "promote democracy in countries and
regions where it currently does not exist".
"In the Oval Office meeting, there was a discussion of India's relations with Pakistan.
There was also discussion about the wider region and South Asia. And they agreed that
on the question -- on the case of Nepal, it's going to be critical for the King of Nepal to
restore civil liberties. And both of them hoped that that would happen as soon as
possible," Mr Burns told media persons.
Describing the discussion on Pakistan as "good", Mr Burns said the US president
described at some length the "very strong" relations that the US has with Pakistan. He
(Bush) described that in a little bit of detail, Mr Burns observed. Asked whether the US
sought India's involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, Mr Burns said they only had a
"general discussion".
Mr Burns and Mr Green wound up their press briefing by saying that the two oldest and
largest democracies in the world today "have agreed to assist other societies in
transition seeking to become more open and democratic". The two sides also agreed to
encourage and support the United Nations in its electoral assistance programs including
drafting of constitution and electoral expertise for transition democracies.
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