Washington, July 21 (Inditop.com) US media and officialdom seem agreed that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s just concluded visit to India would usher in a new era of “deeper relations” and partnership between the two nations.
“The United States generally reserves strategic dialogues for major countries like China, so this is a symbolic acknowledgment of India’s rising role in the world,” the influential New York Times said in a report from New Delhi.
“With both poetry and prose, the United States pledged Monday to embark on a new era of deeper relations with India,” the daily said taking note of the two countries inaugurating “a strategic dialogue, spanning issues from education to climate change, and drawing in participants from the business world and academia, as well as the government.”
Taking note of “a high-level dialogue designed to deepen relations between the two countries,” the Washington Post recalled: “India and the United States had a long history of antagonism during the Cold War, but a thaw began during the presidency of Clinton’s husband, Bill Clinton.
“Then-President George W. Bush built on that foundation by inking landmark civil nuclear agreement with India and now the Obama administration has made it clear it wants to further deepen ties.”
The Christian Science Monitor said “Clinton paved a path to expanding relations with India” announcing accords that secure multibillion-dollar contracts for US nuclear power-plant builders and that open the door to billions of dollars in sales for American defence contractors.
“But it was another announcement that, even more than the others, demonstrated the Obama administration’s designation of India as a crucial partner for the United States in the 21st century,” it said taking note of President Barack Obama’s invitation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
“On Nov. 24, Secretary Clinton said, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be President Obama’s guest in a White House state visit, making Mr. Singh the first foreign leader to make that level of visit under the new American leader.”
“The importance bestowed on Singh may be fitting, some regional experts say, given India’s booming economy, its example as a stable multiethnic society, and its status as the world’s largest democracy,” the daily said.
