India and the United States have agreed to take their defence cooperation to a new level even as they hammered out a commercial pact to finally begin implementation of the five-year-old Civil Nuclear deal.
President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have also committed their Governments to joint efforts to confront terrorism, including dismantling of terror safe havens and expanding intelligence sharing. A joint statement issued after the Obama-Singh summit meeting on Friday also calls for a strong push to trade and investment, with steps for an early conclusion of a Bilateral Investment Treaty.
The statement pledges to make the next decade “equally transformative”, marked by increased partnership in the areas of security, economic development, energy, environment, higher education and global architecture. Without going into the complexities of India’s tough nuclear liability law, a fact sheet released by the White House announced the signing of a preliminary commercial contract by US firm Westinghouse and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India relating to the construction of a nuclear power plant in Gujarat.
Singh and Obama welcomed this development and called for speedy efforts to execute the projects set apart for US companies under the Civil Nuclear deal. The second project to be established in Andhra Pradesh has been entrusted to General Electric-Hitachi. A highlight of the summit meeting is a joint declaration on defence cooperation that promises to place India and the US at the same level as their closest partners.
Addressing a key Indian demand in respect of American defence hardware, the declaration promises technology transfer, including co-development and co-production of defence equipment and services, including the most advanced and sophisticated systems. It commits the two countries to improve licensing processes and expedited approvals to further this cooperation, even while protecting each other’s sensitive technology and information. It also says the US will continue to fully support India’s full membership of four multilateral export control regimes to facilitate increased technology sharing.
With US-India defence trade having reached $9 billion, the declaration refers to the induction of C-130J and C-17 transport aircraft and speaks of the keenness of US companies to conclude more deals to “bring new capabilities to India’s services in the near future”. It says India is the first nation to deploy the US’s P8-I Poseidon, an advanced maritime surveillance aircraft. Pakistan figured in the discussions, and the joint statement called on Islamabad to work towards bringing the perpetrators of Mumbai attacks to justice.
Obama spoke of “our shared interest in seeing a peaceful reduction of tensions on the subcontinent” and thanked Singh for his “consistent interest” to improve relations with Pakistan. But Singh, already faced with political heat back home for his decision to continue with his plans to meet Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif despite the latest terror attacks in J&K, spoke of the difficulties India faces since “the epicentre of terror still remains focused in Pakistan”.
The joint statement sought to sidestep Corporate America’s shrill campaign against India’s trade policies by noting that there are “no insurmountable impediments” to achieve an additional five-fold increase of bilateral trade that has grown five-fold to nearly $100 billion since 2001.
Obama expressed confidence that reforms would open up the Indian economy further and facilitate greater trade and job creation in both countries. Singh flagged Indian concerns over proposed US legislative moves that would hurt Indian professionals and IT companies, eliciting a promise that this matter would be looked into.