Washington, Sep 10 (Inditop.com) The US Wednesday said its relationship with India was undergoing “seismic changes” and will get a major boost during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit in November.
Washington also asked Pakistan to prosecute those responsible for the Mumbai terror attacks and stop infiltration of militants into India to rebuild confidence with New Delhi.
The bilateral trade between the two countries, which currently languishes at $2.1 billion, help a huge potential of deepening their relationship, Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Robert O. Blake said at Johns Hopkins University here.
Describing the India-American relationship as undergoing “seismic changes”, Blake said: “Our bilateral dialogue is less and less about resolving old legacy issues that divided us such as non-proliferation, and more and more about seizing new opportunities, both bilateral and multilateral.”
He said the US was committed to deepening its relationship with India on five pillars – strategic cooperation; collaboration in science, technology and health; energy and climate change; education and trade and agriculture.
Blake said the strategic partnership between the two countries got a major boost during Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to India in July.
During her trip, Clinton also launched new strategic dialogue with India.
The agreement on End-Use Monitoring (EUM) language for military sales contracts will boost US military sales to India and deepen military cooperation between the two countries, Blake said.
The US exported arms worth $3.1 billion to India in 2008.
The proposal to set up two nuclear reactor parks by US companies in India will further boost civilian nuclear cooperation between the two countries, he said.
“The relationship will get a further boost this fall when President Obama welcomes Prime Minister Singh November 24 for the first official state visit of the Obama presidency,” Blake added.
He said there were currently over 90,000 Indian students in the US and “we welcome more Indian students”.
Blake said American educational institutions would like to do more joint work in India to benefit those who cannot come to the US for higher education.
The top US official also said the two countries will expand the CEO Forum to bring in more businesspeople to deepen their business ties.
