The Hindu : New Delhi News : "Tsunami core group to be disbanded"

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 06, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

"Tsunami core group to be disbanded"

By Amit Baruah

NEW DELHI, JAN. 5. The tsunami "core group" comprising the United States, India, Japan and Australia will be "dispersing very soon," the U.S. Ambassador to India, David Mulford, told presspersons yesterday.

Describing this "core group" as a temporary working arrangement, Mr. Mulford clarified that this was not a "permanent diplomatic group". It may disassemble as its utility decreases, he stressed.

The core group was set up soon after the U.S. President, George W. Bush, spoke to the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh. It was put together since the member nations had significant resources in the region and could perform effectively and rapidly in the wake of the tsunami tragedy.

Mr. Mulford said that the U.S. wanted to work with the United Nations and Mr. Bush had spoken to the U.N. Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, after the tsunami disaster. The U.N. was a key player and would remain so.

India's presence in the group showed how important it was for the U. S. This was a concrete example of what India and the U.S. could do together and described it as a "barometer" of Indo-U.S. relations.

According to him, the U.S. commitment of $350 million for the tsunami-hit nations was based on an assessment of the needs and the amount could be increased. The biggest challenge was how to move from relief operations to the task of rebuilding people's lives.

Naval cooperation

In response to questions, Mr. Mulford said there was "very significant cooperation" between the American and Indian navies. Referring to the U.S. naval relief operations in Sri Lanka, he said that this was being done with the Indian Navy in the lead. "We came second in terms of timing."

The U.S. had given $1.5 million to Non-Government Organisations to conduct relief operations in India and $1.6 million more was being disbursed.

He said there had been repeated high-level contacts between India and the U.S. following the December 26 calamity. Official-level contacts were about operational issues.Asked whether the U.S. would help India set up a tsunami-warning system similar to the one that existed in the Pacific, Mr. Mulfored said countries had sensitivities about gauges being installed in their waters. He hoped that the disaster would help overcome these sensitivities.

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