Author: Times News Network and
Agencies
Publication: The Times of India
Date: September 15, 2001
President K.R. Narayanan on Friday
called for close cooperation between the U.S. and India against the increasing
terrorist threats to both countries. Speaking on the occasion' of new U.S.
ambassador Robert D. Blackwill's presentation of credentials, the President
stressed that there was an urgent need for both nations to work together
for their safety and economic progress.
He said there was a new responsibility
for both of them to "cooperate across a very broad agenda of bilateral
and international endeavours and advance regional and global peace, stability
and security."
The President's remarks assume significance
in the light of the government's decision to offer full cooperation to
the U.S. in its efforts to retaliate against the countries suspected of
harbouring terrorists.
The President conveyed his grief
and sense of outrage at the immense tragedy caused by the terrorist strikes
at the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington. "This
reprehensible act is a crime not just against the United States but against
all humanity," he said.
Mr Narayanan said, "It is with a
sense of grief and outrage that I convey my condolence and sympathy for
the immense tragedy that has resulted from the barbaric terrorist attack
on the U.S."
Barring the September 1 engagement
at Rashtrapati Bhavan for the swearing in of eight new ministers, this
was the first official engagement of Mr Narayanan, who has been indisposed
for almost a month.
New Chinese ambassador Hua Junduo,
high commissioner of New Zealand Ms Caroline McDonald and high commissioner
of Zambia Moses Musonda also presented their credentials to the President.
Mr Narayanan said, "We appreciate
President Bush's desire to deepen Indo-U.S. ties and strongly reciprocate
that sentiment."
Observing that Indo-U.S. relations
have been infused with new warmth and confidence while bilateral cooperation
has deepened and diversified into new areas, he said, "We must now build
on this momentum to give concrete shape to our shared vision of a closer,
more broad-based and more meaningful relationship between our countries."
The U.S. ambassador briefed him
on the steps taken to meet the situation in the wake of the terrorist attacks.
He also shared the view on the need to further consolidate bilateral ties.
Mr Narayanan said, "We are at a
point of momentous change in the history of mankind. New technologies,
new ideas and the ascendance of values cherished by both India and the
U.S. have opened up new possibilities to bring together our peoples and
those with whom we share this world for the all round peace, progress and
prosperity."
But the pursuit of progress faced
resistance from the unlearnt lessons of history and from many challenges,
old and new, he said.
Mr Narayanan said he shared President
Bush's conviction that if we wanted a world shaped in the ideals that we
both shared, "India and the U.S. must be closer friends and stronger partners.
"Anything less would only encourage
those who still remain tied to the vestiges of the past, to the idea of
domination and division", he said.
The President noted that there was
a natural foundation to Indo-U.S. ties with both countries committed to
liberty, welfare and choice of the two democracies.
Mr Narayanan also spoke of common
values, concerns and intersecting interests that the two countries, emerging
from the shadows of recent history, had now begun to increasingly recognise.
He stressed that India and the U.S.
must work together to make the two nations safer, economics stronger, citizens
more secure, families more prosperous and children better educated and
healthier.
