The Hindu : International : I will firm up ties with India, says Bush

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 15, 2005

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International

I will firm up ties with India, says Bush

Sridhar Krishnaswami

U.S. wants to work with India, a global power

AFFINITY: The External Affairs Minister, K. Natwar Singh, with the United States President, George W. Bush, at the White House on Thursday.

WASHINGTON: The U.S. President, George W. Bush, has said that he is going to use his next four years of his second term to "further strengthen" the existing state of relations between the United States and India and to "take them to a much higher level".

Speaking about India as a "global power" the President made it known that the U.S. wanted to work very close with it for the common good of world peace and for mutual economic benefit. Mr. Bush conveyed these messages and more to the Indian Minister for External Affairs, Natwar Singh, during the Oval Office meeting here this morning.

The President was said to be exceedingly warm and friendly in his remarks at the meeting. "He said he was extremely excited, pleased about the state of India-U.S. relations," according to the Foreign Secretary, Shyam Saran, who gave a read out of the 30 minutes-plus meeting between Mr. Bush and Mr. Singh.

`A flourishing democracy'

"Mr. Bush expressed admiration about the strengths that India has in terms of the talents of its people, the democracy, the fact that it is a flourishing democracy of one billion people and a very diverse country," said Mr. Saran.

"He spoke about India as a global power with which the U.S. wanted to work very closely with together for the common good of world peace, for mutual economic benefit," Mr. Saran said.

In this context the two sides are said to have touched upon some issues and one of the very important issue was that of energy and the challenges that are to be faced in the energy sector.

The President is said to have made the point that India and the U.S. "need to work together" in this area which would include civilian nuclear cooperation.

In his meeting, Mr. Bush is said to have remarked that he "could not wait" to visit India and that he was looking forward to the visit within the year.

The President told Mr. Singh that he was also "very much looking forward" to the visit of the Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, in the near future and that a very warm welcome awaited him.

Characterising the meeting between Mr. Bush and Mr. Singh as "extremely warm and friendly", Mr. Saran noted that the External Affairs Minister drew attention to the fact that from the first day in office even during the first term Mr. Bush was a leader who was "extremely focussed" on developing relations with India and that he had made a very personal commitment in taking these relations forward. As a result bilateral relations "are probably the best we have had in a very long time", and that India was looking forward to a "much closer relationship" between the two countries in this second term, Mr. Singh is said to have conveyed.

The two leaders, according to the Foreign Secretary, spoke about the affinity that exists between the two countries as democracies, the commitment to democratic values and how this provided an "excellent foundation" for taking the relationship forward.

At the White House meeting this morning along with Mr. Bush were the Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, the National Security Adviser, Stephen Hadley, the Chief of Staff, Andrew Card, and other officials. With the External Affairs Minister were the Deputy Chair of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, India's Ambassador in Washington, Ronen Sen, and the Foreign Secretary.

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