Robert D. Blackwill
US Ambassador to India
Address to the Delhi Policy Group
Habitat Centre
New Delhi, India
February 26, 2002
INTRODUCTION
Ambassador Bajpai, Mr. Liberhan,
honored guests, ladies and gentlemen. I want to thank the Delhi Policy
Group for inviting me to this marvelous facility to discuss a dominant
subject: the continuing transformation of US-India relations.
In 1844 -- which I have learned
since I arrived is more or less yesterday in India -- the American philosopher
Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote of "the transformation of genius into practical
power." This phrase strikingly applies to the approach taken by Prime Minister
Vajpayee and President Bush to end decades of disagreement and dissatisfaction
in our bilateral relationship. Since it is not my intention on this occasion
to review this long and painful past in US-Indian interaction for fear
that we would be here for breakfast, I will leave that task to historians,
which is where, in my judgment, it permanently belongs.
And I do not intend to be disagreeable
from this podium lest you think you are witnessing one of the more rambunctious
sessions of last week's International Festival of Indian Literature. No
million mutinies now, or later, from me. Rather, I aim today to try to
remain entirely within the circle of reason, to maintain a fine balance.
Indeed, after my remarks, you may even conclude that I am a suitable boy
to hold my present official position in India.
In any case, again recalling Emerson,
let me stress that the leadership shown by the President and the Prime
Minister in the past year brought us into an era in which the genius of
America and India is being practically employed to promote freedom and
security. I can assure you that there are no small remedies in these two
leaders' minds with respect to the US-India relationship.
In my inaugural speeches in New
Delhi and Mumbai six months ago, I invited audiences to consider and then
to digest the importance of George W. Bush's view of India's constructive
global role, both real and potential, and his plans to transform the relationship
between our two nations. Stressing that President Bush was "seeking to
intensify collaboration with India on the whole range of issues that currently
confront the international community," I further noted that the President
possesses a deeply encompassing approach to US-India relations, consistent
with the rise of India as a great power.
Before a joint session of Congress
last month and in front of a global television audience numbering in the
billions, George W. Bush praised this essentially redefined relationship
with India in his State of the Union address. The President said that the
US is working with India "in ways we have never before, to achieve peace
and prosperity." It is impossible to imagine any previous Presidential
State of the Union address including that idea. Given his detestation for
Krishna Menon and Indian foreign policy, it is safe to say that John Foster
Dulles would not have recommended such positive language to Dwight Eisenhower.
As Dennis Kux chronicles in his magisterial book, Estranged Democracies,
Dulles characteristically described India in somewhat different terms.
But that was then, and this is now.
President Bush's words demonstrate the depth of his profound commitment
boldly to redefine the US-India bilateral relationship -- on the basis
one might say of equal music from both our countries -- in order to bring
these two great democracies into enduring strategic collaboration, based
on common democratic values and overlapping vital and important national
interests.
PRESIDENT BUSH'S BIG IDEA AND FIGHTING
THE WAR ON TERRORISM
From my own personal perspective,
which is shaped by the ready access, courtesy and collegiality routinely
extended to me by the highest levels of the Indian Government since my
arrival in India nearly eight months ago, the transformation of our bilateral
relations is fully underway. Th is train is already moving right along,
and it is picking up speed.
Fundamentally redefining every dimension
of our bilateral relationship has been President Bush's "Big Idea" for
several years. First hearing it from him in the living room of the Governor's
mansion in Austin, Texas, in early 1999, I described his "Big Idea" in
my first speech on US-India relations in Mumbai on September 6. I stressed
that two years before he became President, George W. Bush was convinced
that such a transformation was necessary because of India's emergence as
a rising world power, as an ever more influential leader of the community
of democratic nations, and because of its potential as a global market.
The President made the same points
to me when I met with him in the Oval Office a little over a month ago.
And, as you know, Prime Minister Vajpayee had earlier come to a similar
conclusion with his invention of the phrase "natural allies," to describe
the relationship between India and the United States. Thus, well before
the terrible events of September 11, these transforming convictions by
our two nations' leaders were solidly in place.
Five days after my September 6 speech
in Mumbai, the world changed forever -- and US-India relations changed
with it. In the aftermath of those consuming fireballs that no one in this
room will ever forget, the United States and India embraced a completely
new and common vow that terrorism must be confronted; that terrorism must
be fought; and that terrorism must be ended. This joint undertaking applies
to every corner of my country. And it applies to every corner of India.
There must be no sanctuaries for terrorists, anywhere. There must be no
place, anywhere, that they can feel safe to plan and export their next
attack against humanity. Apropos of such steadfast determination, in a
conversation with A. J. Balfour in 1899, Queen Victoria gave this steely
verdict that should guide us, "We are not interested in the possibilities
of defeat; they do not exist."
As President Bush has said, those
who harbor terrorists will share their fate. Every nation has to decide
if it is with us -- the community of civilized countries, including India
and America, that unambiguously condemns terror as a political, ideological
or religious instrument - or with the terrorists, the evil ones whose inhuman
acts separate them from the society of homo sapiens. In this global war
against terrorism, there can be no middle ground. No moral relativism.
No policy equivocation. No excuses.
In this context, please remember
Edmund Burke's warning words, "The only thing necessary for the triumph
of evil is for good men to do nothing."
Some say that this absolutely uncompromising
anti-terrorist code is simplistic, that it does not take sufficiently into
account historical complexities or expedient raisons d'etat. Some say that
with respect to identifying terrorism, "it depends." Such relativist declarations
have been made at my Roosevelt House Round Tables. To the contrary, I say
that defeating terrorism is a matter of survival for ourselves, for our
democratic values, for our religious freedom, for our children, for everything
that we hold dear. If that seems simple to some, I proudly plead guilty
to simplicity -- but to simplicity of clear, supreme and abiding purpose.
Decidedly not to simplicity of strategy and tactics -- which as President
Bush and especially this audience know is something altogether different.
But to simplicity, indeed purity, of resolute anti-terrorist principle,
I make no apologies whatsoever.
Socrates thought that, "the beginning
of wisdom is the definition of terms." So let us please name those for
what they are, who murder innocents for political motives and who seek
to bring down the very pillars of our democracy -- in Washington, in Srinagar,
in New Delhi.
These people are not misunderstood
idealists. They are not disadvantaged dissidents. They are not religious
perfectionists. And they are not freedom fighters.
They are terrorists, and we should
always be sure to call them exactly that.
This shared threat from terrorism
on the part of the United States and India has hastened the redefinition
of our relationship in all its manifestations, and catapulted our strategic
collaboration to unprecedented depth, breath and intensity. As I noted
in my September 3 New Delhi speech, India is central to the emphasis that
American foreign policy places on building a concert of democratic states
in response to problems of world order.
Two years ago, who could have imagined
that the broken down jalopy that characterized US-India interaction over
the past fifty years would become a Formula One racer of bilateral partnership.
No longer do US officials encounter Indian counterparts who instinctively
assume a studied stance of moral superiority. No longer do Indian government
representatives face Americans who believe that constant public criticism,
incessant private nagging and a one-issue agenda should dominate American
diplomacy toward India. What a relief it is that those dreary days are
over.
More than 50 American policymakers
at the Assistant Secretary level and above have visited India since I arrived
at the end of July last year (you heard correctly: more than 50), while
many members of the Prime Minister's senior national security team have
travelled to the United States during the same time frame. What have these
leaders been talking about with one another? Alfred North Whitehead once
observed that, "We think in generalities, but we live in detail." The US-India
relationship is now living in exquisite detail.
This specificity is reflected in
the current comprehensive US-Indi a policyagenda which concentrates on
diplomacy, especially related to anti-terrorism and Afghanistan; intelligence
and law enforcement; defense cooperation, including the President's new
strategic framework; economic interaction and the environment; energy security;
civil nuclear and space collaboration; and scientific and medical research
and cooperation. I will briefly address each.
DIPLOMACY
Bilateral diplomatic exchanges with
India are among the most frequent and intense that the United States conducts
with any country in the world, allied or otherwise. In addition to the
visits that I mentioned above, the President and Prime Minister speak on
the telephone when it is valuable for them to exchange information and
insights, and to push our mutual cooperation forward. Colin Powell and
Jaswant Singh have become friends and talk together at least once a week,
and sometimes several times a week. Their phone bills must be astronomical.
National Security Advisors Brajesh Mishra and Condoleezza Rice are in frequent
contact to both countries' advantage. Defense Ministers Fernandes and Rumsfeld
have an excellent relationship. Home Minister Advani has established fruitful
contact with Attorney General Ashcroft and FBI Director Mueller. Finance
Minister Sinha and Treasure Secretary O'Neill see each other often. Commerce
Minister Maran and US Trade Representative Zoellick have good personal
communication. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Myers ten days ago
spent several hours with General Padmanabhan. Many US policymakers who
visit Delhi also have productive discussions with India's political opposition.
And so on.
Such strong and constant exchanges
among principals do not guarantee US-India harmony, but they certainly
help promote that objective. Indeed, I am confident that there has not
been such deep personal interaction and respect at the top of the US-Indian
relationship since Ambassador John Kenneth Galbraith frequently dined alone
with Prime Minister Nehru a couple of times a week.
In the context of all this contact,
our diplomatic cohesion is unprecedented. We have worked together in the
UN to pass UNSCR 1373 and to promote the India-sponsored Comprehensive
Convention Against International Terrorism. These efforts have led to the
arrest of hundreds of individuals around the world with possible ties to
al Qaeda and other terrorist networks. With the United States and India
moving in unison to strangle the financial assets of terrorists, more than
112 nations have issued blocking orders and frozen assets used to finance
terrorism. Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Kenneth Dam was in India a
few weeks ago to accelerate this joint effort. And the US Government has
designated Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba as Foreign Terrorist
Organizations.
At the end of last year, together
we successfully assisted the completion of the Bonn Conference that established
the interim governm ent in Afghanistan. At three o'clock of the last morning
of the Conference, the American and Indian Coordinators on Afghanistan
were united as they sought to persuade the attending Afghans to reach agreement
and to close the deal. I have spoken to both Ambassador Dobbins and Ambassador
Lambah, separately and in detail. Each fervently sings the praises of the
other. This is an extremely good sign. Each has every reason to be proud
of his personal contribution to the rebuilding of Afghanistan, and of the
performance of his government in this endeavor.
We all know that the tragedy of
Afghanistan will not be reversed over night. At best, it will take many,
many years for the people of that blighted land to lead something resembling
normal lives. How best to accomplish the monumental task of bringing stability,
security and economic development to Afghanistan continues to be the subject
of numerous exchanges between Washington and New Delhi. Indeed, Jaswant
Singh and Colin Powell dis Cussed this again at length at the end of last
week. Accomplishing this tremendous task regarding Afghanistan will be
exceedingly difficult. Without the closest possible US-India collaboration,
it may be impossible.
This transformation has been equally
evident regarding International Peacekeeping through a Joint US-India Working
Group, maritime security within the context of the Asia Regional Forum,
and human rights as treated within the United Nations system.
For this exceptional diplomatic
cooperation to occur, decades of stultifying standard operating procedures
had to be put aside in both Washington and New Delhi. In the past, American
diplomats here had trouble getting appointments in the MEA and what they
eventually heard could be read in the newspapers. Their Indian counterparts
in Washington had much the same experience. This has now changed dramatically.
Our challenge at present is to replicate our mutually supportive diplomatic
methods in the past year to include: all of this region; Asian security
writ large; Southeast Asia; Central Asia; the Middle East; issues at the
United Nations; and so forth. If we can do this in concert, the world will
be a safer place.
INTELLIGENCE AND LAW ENFORCEMENT
As perhaps you can tell, I am having
a wonderful time in India. Because of my endless fascination for this country,
I do not want to leave it soon. It is with that thought clearly in mind
that I will address only the broad generalities of the intensifying intelligence
relationship between our two governments. To say more could put me on a
plane back to Harvard.
In the first instance, US-India
intelligence cooperation is devoted to identifying terrorists, preventing
their atrocities, and bringing them to justice. To advance this effort,
we constantly exchange very sensitive information of a kind that never
reaches the public eye. That is the way it must be if these joint intelligence
accomplishments are going to continue.
But I can say in this venue that,
in many cases, we are making life quite difficult for the terrorists. And
more is yet to come in expanding this partnership in the intelligence field.
Regarding cooperation on law enforcement,
we signed a new bilateral treaty last October for the extradition of fugitive
offenders. We worked together to bring Lakireddy Bali Reddy to justice,
an Indian citizen who recruited underage females from India's villages
and made them sex slaves in the United States. The US assisted the Government
of India concerning the kidnapping of Partha Roy Burman in July of last
year, and the CBI arrested 15 individuals who were responsible for the
abduction. The FBI and CBI have been in tandem in the wake of the September
11 attack to apprehend the guilty parties of that atrocity. Indian law
enforcement agencies have been immediately responsive to US inquiries on
the attack at the America Center last month in Kolkata. And there are numerous
cases now under investigation that will produce more arrests in this cooperative
law enforcement effort.
That brings me to the US-India Cyber
Terrorism Initiative, which flows out of the November 9 Summit in Washington.
With cyber terrorism a growing threat to both the United States and India,
there are no two countries in the world better placed because of their
advanced technology to deal with it. Co-chaired by the NSC and the NSCS,
the first meeting of this new group will soon be held in New Delhi. A variety
of individuals -- senior policymakers, civil servants, the uniformed military,
intelligence services, industry, the research and development sector, and
professional associations -- will attend. We will exchange information
about the cyber threat environment, our histories and methods for dealing
with the problem, and our experiences in combating this menace. We will
discuss legal cooperation, joint training, regularized cyber attack and
assessment notification, the adoption of common international software
security standards, and bilateral E-security workshops. If car bombs have
long been a terrorist weapon of choice, cyber assault on the United States
and India will undoubtedly be a daunting part of our future.
Finally, the US-India Joint Working
Group on Counter Terrorism met again in January to continue work on enhancing
military, financial, and other measures against terrorist groups and networks
after September 11 and December 13. They also exchanged information on
legislative, institutional and law enforcement steps that our two governments
are taking to strengthen homeland security and the two sides had detailed
discussions on the financing of terrorist activities.
DEFENSE COOPERATION
No single area of US-India cooperation
highlights our transformed bilateral relationship more than defense cooperation.
A series of meetings between Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld and Ministers
of Defense Fernandes and Singh have set the stage for a military partnership
that begins to resemble those the United States has with other democracies.
The guiding body of American and
Indian defense policy makers, the Defense Planning Group (DPG), met in
December 2001 to chart a new and expanded framework. Taking its cue from
Prime Minister Vajpayee's and President Bush's commitment to recast the
character of US-India relations, the DPG has approved broad-based collaboration
that includes a renewal of military-to-military ties and the resumption
of a significant defense supply relationship. In addition to discussions
about terrorism, and plans for greater joint analysis and action to combat
this danger, we reviewed three subjects of great importance to the future
security of both our countries: President Bush's new strategic framework
and its fresh vision of the role of nuclear weapons in the international
system; energy security and joint operations to protect the sea lanes of
communication in the Indian Ocean; and the challenges of maintaining strategic
stability in the Asia-Pacific region over the long term. To create an institutional
context for more intensive exchanges on these strategic subjects, the two
sides initiated a new dialogue between India's Integrated Defense Staff
and the US Joint Staff, and new bilateral talks between the defense analysis
communities in both countries, hosted by the Advisor for Net Assessment
to the US Secretary of Defense.
Since the DPG, the US and India
have signed the General Security of Military Information Agreement. We
have successfully concluded the Army, Navy and Air Force Service-to-Service
Executive Steering Group Meetings, as well as the first round of what will
be on-going discussions involving the Peacekeeping Joint Working Group,
the Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief Joint Working Group, and the
Search and Rescue Joint Working Group. We have also firmed up plans for
a series of joint activities on missile defense, and discussions on environmental
security.
The program of military-to-military
cooperation that has been agreed upon by the service steering groups since
the DPG confirms the vitalization of US-Indian defense ties. We have had
the largest number of general officer visits to India ever. The US Navy
has already conducted five port calls and a search and rescue exercise
in the past 15 months. A contingent of distinguished Indian defense leaders
went aboard the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson and our two navies will
undertake a variety of activities at least once a month over the next two
years. Our two armies have already agreed to expand counter terrorism cooperation
and training, to increase IMET exchanges, and to extend participation in
national, bilateral and multinational exercises. The air force agenda,
which has just been settled in Hawaii, projects a similarly ambitious schedule
of bilateral cooperation focused on joint training and exercises, increased
technical cooperation in support of combined operations, and professional
and subject matter exchanges.
Our defense supply relationship
is also making substantial progress. Since the DPG concluded in December
2001, the US government has worked actively to be as responsive as possible
to India's military technology requirements. Given that it takes three
months after a licensing request clears the interagency review process
to be formally approved by Congress, I trust that you will find the following
notable. To date, the US Government has received applications for 81 items
on the Munitions List. None so far have been denied. Of the 81 applications
under consideration, 20 have already been approved by the interagency process
and are in various stages of notification to Congress. These include applications
for components for the Agrani satellite launch, helicopter spare parts,
micro detonators, specialized electric motors, and the AN/TPQ-37 artillery
locating radar. A variety of other high priority items including aircraft
engines, undersea remotely operating vehicles, submarine combat systems,
multi-mission maritime patrol aircraft, satellite launch vehicle technical
data, and equipment for combating terrorism are in various stages of Congressional
clearance. Bilateral defense technical cooperation is not restricted to
sales of military technologies alone, but can also be extended to cooperative
defense research and production when the Joint Technical Group meets in
March 2002 to address its agenda.
As is evident from the above, the
US-India defense relationship has a vital present, and a big future.
ECONOMIC INTERACTION AND THE ENVIRONMENT
With respect to economic interaction
between the United States and India, I can be brief since I recently gave
a full-length speech on the subject. I would like only to emphasize again
that American exports into India and US direct foreign investment here
are not growing. That is bad news, and could become an impediment to the
kind of US-India relationship that President Bush and Prime Minister Vajpayee
are working so hard to build. We need strong economic ties to match the
substantial progress we are making in all other dimensions of our bilateral
relationship. Second generation Indian economic reforms can certainly help
turn the current chapati of US-India economic interaction into a full banquet
in the period ahead. That is my profound wish and, to change the metaphor,
I and my colleagues in Washington, who comprise the American side of the
US-India Economic Dialogue, will continue to do everything we can to promote
the speedy return of the economic reforms rabbit in this country. Indeed,
we hope that he will be hopping about in full splendor when the Indian
Government budget is presented in two days time.
With respect to environmental cooperation,
Governor Christine Todd Whitman during her January visit to India signed
a path-breaking MOU between the Indian Ministry of Environment and Forest
and the US Environmental Protection Agency, which she heads. Activities
under this MOU have begun and more are scheduled in the next two weeks.
We are underway in a long-term partnership to address issues of environmental
governance, air and water quality, and the management of toxic chemicals
and hazardous waste.
Washington has also noticed India's
positive response to the President's February 14 policy statement on Global
Climate Change. With our two nations having a promising opportunity to
show the rest of the world how we can work together to address Climate
Change for the betterment of the planet, Under Secretary of State Paula
Dobrianksy, who is the principal US Government negotiator on the international
aspects of US environmental policy, is arriving in New Delhi tonight to
begin discussions with her Indian counterparts.
ENERGY SECURITY
The United States and India have
common vital interests with respect to energy security. Both our countries
are hugely dependent on foreign sources for our energy needs. 50% of the
crude oil imported by America and its Allies is from the Middle East. 90%
of the crude oil imported by India comes from the same location. These
facts speak for themselves: the Persian Gulf, and the lines of communication
connecting that region with the rest of the world, remain critical for
the security of both our countries. Consequently, the flow of oil and gas
from the Middle East must be safeguarded and free of threats stemming either
from military aggression or from acts of terrorism. Parallel with efforts
by the international community, the United States and India can work more
closely together to achieve this objective. Our national interests certainly
converge: we both seek reliable access to energy resources; we both seek
well-ordered energy markets; and, we both seek stability in energy prices.
The US Department of Energy and
other US agencies, in discussion with their Indian counterparts, are actively
considering ways to bundle the many threads of our existing energy and
power sector interactions. Together, we have been also exploring ways to
ensure continued security of Persian Gulf oil and the Sea Lines of Communication
(SLOCs) in the Indian Ocean. There is much US-India cooperation yet to
come in this domain.
CIVIL NUCLEAR AND SPACE COOPERATION
The United States and India are
re-engaging in space research. We are looking at the sale of space hardware
that will mutually benefit the India telecommunications satellite program
and US suppliers of telecommunications equipment, which is unmatched in
performance and price. Meanwhile, we will expand collaboration in scientific
and civilian space fields such as weather, migration, and communications.
India has made it clear that nuclear
energy is an important part of its energy future and the US wants to ensure
that India can avail itself of the long American experience in nuclear
safety matters. In the nuclear field we are looking forward to mutually
beneficial cooperation between the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
and the Indian Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB).
SCIENCE AND MEDICAL RESEARCH
Bilateral co-operation in biomedical
research and public health is also increasing. The number of US-India health
research projects nearly doubled in the past year.
These are generally not government-to-government,
but rather institution-to-institution endeavors, involving dozens of universities
and research centers in both countries. And it is a collaboration of equals.
With Indian scientists competing against their counterparts in the United
States, Canada, the U.K., Germany, China and around the world for limited
funding from the US National Institutes of Health, the rising number of
tasks connected to India is a tribute to the quality of Indian science,
not to high-level efforts to "arrange marriages" between our scientists.
The Indian and US governments agree
that there is an urgent need to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. With nearly
four million infected people in this country, the United States wants to
help in ways that the Indian Government finds appropriate. USAID has recently
initiated a seven-year $41.5 million HIV/AIDS prevention program in the
state of Maharashtra. We have extended a parallel effort in Tamil Nadu
for another five years, with a commitment of $25 million. In October, we
initiated a $4 million annual program for HIV/AIDS care and support, led
by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and US-India joint
research on this terrible disease increased, with $13.9 million awarded
to Indian investigators for HIV/AIDS research projects. As you can see,
we take this disease very, very seriously and fighting it together will
assume a growing importance in our bilateral agenda.
The US-India Science Forum was created
to use America's PL-480 resources to enrich our technology base. The Forum
is also funding a constant stream of workshops through which American and
Indian scientists join hands to chart the future course of research in
important areas of science.
THE CRISIS BETWEEN INDIA AND PAKISTAN
I cannot give a status report on
the transformation of US-India relations without speaking of the current
crisis between India and Pakistan. Let me say the following:
* The United States does not only
believe that we can have good and productive relations with both New Delhi
and Islamabad; for many reasons such a US approach is essential to promote
American national interests.
* We think that President Musharraf
has embarked on a courageous and profound redefinition of his nation's
policies, both domestic and foreign. In our view, he has already made substantial
progress.
* The infiltration of terrorists
into India is unacceptable and must end.
* President Musharraf's commitment
that terrorism will not emanate from Pakistan and Pakistan occup ied territory
promises to tran sform the security situation in this region. As President
Bush and Secretary Powell have repeatedly stressed, implementation of that
pledge is key.
* The present crisis between India
and Pakistan is dangerous. As Napoleon perceptively said, "One can never
see the consequence of political negotiations under the influence of military
eventualities." The reverse is also true. With the two militaries mobilized
and forward deployed, a spark could ignite a conflict.
* Under President Bush's direction,
we are working as hard as we know how to help defuse the current standoff.
Since December 13, no other international problem has ranked higher in
the Administration's foreign policy priorities. This has been particularly
true for Secretary Powell. As the crisis recedes, we hope for an early
resumption of direct talks between India and Pakistan on all the issues
in their bilateral relationship.
* Washington will not seek to mediate
the Kashmir issue. That has been repeatedly made clear by President Bush,
and by the other senior members of his foreign policy team. You can count
on it.
* The United States conducts its
relationship with India without regard to any third party. The Bush Administration
does not believe in hyphenating its policies toward this country.
* A successful resolution of the
current Indo-Pak crisis can give a major boost to the ongoing transformation
of the US-India relationship.
CONCLUSION
We have remarkably redefined US-India
relations over the past year, and especially since September 11. Engaged
in levels of strategic collaboration that no other US Administration and
Indian Government have ever undertaken before, our new ties, conceived
in values, forged in national interests and tested in terrorist adversity,
can serve us well to meet the openings and risks that lie ahead that we
cannot anticipate. As a Chinese strategist put it thousands of years ago,
"we must prepare now for what is over the third mountain range." I closed
my September 6 speech in Mumbai by saying that: "Today, and tomorrow, opportunity
calls in this relationship. Together, let the United States and India seize
it." If this speech does not convince you that we are seizing the opportunity,
I am not sure what would.
Before I close, allow me to mention
only one other essential transformation in the US-India relationship. I
have in mind the disappearance of the long visa lines outside the US Embassy
in New Delhi, which is soon to be duplicated in our three Consulates. Although
I have largely focused here on the more lofty elements of our bilateral
ties, ordinary Indians will perhaps take greater pleasure in the fact that
they no longer have to stand in an endless queue in searing heat and/or
pouring rain to apply for a visa to the United States.
Because of my insufficient eloquence,
you shall not hear the nightingale in this speech. But you have listened
to a success story regarding our bilateral relationship over the past year,
led by Prime Minister Vajpayee and President Bush. Of course, this story
is not over. How could it be so in such a short time, especially given
the way India, with its ancient civilization and long-term perspective,
measures such things. We have miles to go before we sleep. There will be
occasional policy differences along the road, as there inevitably are between
America and its closest Allies. That is to be entirely expected, and to
be adroitly managed.
Over the coming years, much will
depend on the strategic acuity, wisdom and competence of our two governments,
and their leaders.
But we have made a great beginning.
Our challenge is to maintain this extraordinary pace and substance in our
bilateral ties, to continue to understand that the United States and India
can truly be at home in the world, together -- beyond all the mountain
ranges.
Thank you for your attention.
