New Delhi
22 July 2005
The United States says its flourishing strategic partnership with
India will see New Delhi playing a major role in four critical areas -- counter-terrorism,
human trafficking, drugs and proliferation security -- across a "band of countries"
extending from West Asia to North Korea.
The deputy chief of mission in the US embassy in India, Mr Robert Blake, told media
persons India is suitably qualified to play that preeminent role by virtue of it being "a
multi-ethnic democracy in the middle of that band" and that there was a lot the
international community can "learn from India."
Replying to a question via video conference from Chennai, where he spoke at a function
organised by the Observer Research Foundation, he said "the war on terrorism cannot
be won by militarily means alone." It is also a war of ideas and India with a huge Muslim
population can play a critical role in the fight against terrorism.
On the controversy surrounding India-US nuclear cooperation, Mr Blake said Washington
was prepared to work with the US Congress, key allies and the Nuclear Suppliers Group
to change the rules to enable full nuclear cooperation with India. The process of
consultations, he said, had already begun.
He said some progress is expected to be achieved by the time US President George W
Bush arrives in India next year although it would also depend to a large extent on the
time taken by India to implement the commitments like separating its civilian and
strategic nuclear facilities and signing the additional protocol.
He observed that Washington's optimism of securing the US Congress' nod owed to the
"bipartisan consensus" in the US. He said 19 out of the 38 members of the India Caucus
in the Senate were Democrats. Likewise, 173 representatives in the House were
members of the India Caucus out of which 100 were Democrats.
Mr Blake said Washington's strategic partnership with New Delhi would also extend to
the spheres of science and technology, space, HIV/AIDS and agriculture. Both countries
would also work together to strengthen democratic institutions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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