The Hindu : National : U.S. wants strategic ties with India 're-energised'

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Tuesday, Jun 22, 2004

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U.S. wants strategic ties with India 're-energised'

By Our Staff Reporter

The U.S. Ambassador to India, David C. Mulford (right), lighting a lamp during the inauguration of the India-U.S. conference on space science applications and commerce, in Bangalore on Monday. Also seen are (from left) the ISRO Chairman, Madhavan Nair, the U.S. Under-Secretary of Commerce, Kenneth I. Juster, and the Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office, Prithviraj Chavan. — Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

BANGALORE, JUNE 21. An "India - United States Conference on Space Science, Applications, and Commerce" started here today with the emphasis on the "four decades of cooperation" in science and technology, and a firm resolve to stick to non-contentious issues such as remote sensing.

Inaugurating the conference, Prithviraj Chavan, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office, read out a message from the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh. It spoke of the "scope for bilateral high technology commerce" to "supplement" the "shared values and political interests" of the two nations.

Two senior American officials, who spoke at the inauguration, termed the U.S. relationship with India as "strategic" and one that needed to be "actively re-energised."

The U.S. Ambassador to India, David C. Mulford, said that President Bush had identified the relationship with India as one of "key strategic importance" to the United States. After reading a message of greetings from Mr. Bush to the conference, Mr. Mulford said: "In sector after sector, collaborations and alliances are the new norm."

They could be seen in the "joint military exercises to joint business undertakings, from academic exchanges to links among civil society, to cooperation between our governments on many international issues, including global climate change and the war on terrorism."

The two countries had embarked on the "Next Steps" initiative in their partnership which "sets out a vision to expand cooperation in civil space, civil nuclear and hi-tech trade and to expand the dialogue in missile defence."

It was a wrong notion that an U.S. embargo on such trade was implicit, said the U.S. Under-Secretary of Commerce, Kenneth I. Juster. " The U.S. licensing practice since the lifting of sanctions in September 2001, has led to a dramatic and continuing increase in the volume and value of exports of sophisticated U.S. hi-technology items to India, including in space related trade," Mr. Juster said.

He did not specify if any of the so-called "dual use" technology (having potential for civilian and military use), the export of which his office regulates, was available to India.

The participation of four senior officials from Washington D.C., including himself, should be taken as proof of "the importance we attach to this event," he said.

Mr. Mulford said the two nations must "capitalise" on the scientific and commercial talent and the human and technological assets they both possess, to foster an atmosphere in which private sector and people-to-people links can further develop. While the governments can facilitate these ties and forward-looking policies, ultimately, "it will be the private sector that delivers the goods," he said.

G. Madhavan Nair, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation, and P.S. Goel, Director of ISRO's Satellite Centre, spoke.

The five-day conference is organised by the Astronautical Society of India and American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

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