June 10, 2009 India a Major Foreign
Policy Priority: US
New Delhi
Describing India as "a major foreign policy priority and a crucial
global partner", a senior US diplomat Wednesday underlined an
"ambitious agenda for the next phase of strategic partnership"
between the two countries that were transformed by the landmark
nuclear deal last year.
"President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have
sent me with one message that India is a major foreign policy
priority for the US. And India is a global partner of the US," US
Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns told
reporters here.
"I am here to chart an ambitious bilateral agenda together for the
next phase of strategic partnership," said Burns, the first senior
US official to visit New Delhi for formal talks during the second
term of the Manmohan Singh government.
Burns, who began his four-day India visit Wednesday, called on
External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and Home Minister P.
Chidambaram. He also met Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon and
discussed with him a host of bilateral issues, including defence and
economic ties and issues relating to nuclear trade.
The talks focused on firming up a comprehensive agenda for the
forthcoming visit of Clinton to India next month. The two sides also
discussed regional and global issues like the situation in the
volatile Afghanistan and Pakistan region and non-proliferation.
The Nov 26 Mumbai terrorist attacks, in which six American nationals
were among the over 170 killed, also figured prominently in
discussions, reliable sources said.
India conveyed its concerns over Pakistan's "inaction" against the
perpetrators of the Mumbai carnage and cited the release of
Jamaat-ud-Daawa (JuD) Hafiz Saeed, the suspected mastermind of the
Mumbai attack, by a Pakistan court last week to underscore
Islamabad's lack of sincerity in addressing India's concerns over
cross-border terrorism, the sources said.
The two sides also discussed the possibility of signing an "end-use
verification agreement" for all military purchases made by India
from the US, a key step that is expected to give a big push to the
US defence sales to India.
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