Saturday, December 03, 2011
Ambassador warmly welcomed on Capitol Hill
From The Hindu
The Senate India Caucus, headed by John Cornyn,
Republican of Texas and Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia, welcomed
Nirupama Rao, Indian Ambassador to the United States, to Washington and
called for an even closer bilateral relationship in economic areas.
Speaking
at a ceremony at the Senate Dirksen Building on Capitol Hill, the two
Senators praised Ms. Rao’s credentials as a seasoned diplomat even as
they noted that they would be writing a letter to President Barack Obama
pressing for greater momentum on a Bilateral Investment Treaty.
Addressing
the gathering Ms. Rao, who assumed her role in September, underscored
the role of the Indian-American community, with over 2.7 million
members, in fostering closer ties between the two countries.
Touching
upon the range of areas where India and the U.S. are expanding their
cooperation Ms. Rao said, “Newer areas of cooperation such as nuclear
energy, high technology and clean energy sources are making our
partnership more rewarding.”
Cooperation in the
nuclear sector was also a subject addressed by Senator John Kerry,
Democrat of Massachusetts and Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Chairman.
Senator Kerry said, “India’s remarkable sense of
responsibility with respect to the stewardship of nuclear power, even
though the [Nuclear] Non Proliferation Treaty has always been something
outside its guideposts, has nevertheless been exemplary and stands as an
example to near-neighbours and others in the world about where the
future really lies with respect to the exercise of that responsibility.”
Labels: India-US relations, Nirupama Rao
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
U.S. optimistic on nuclear cooperation with India despite hurdles
From The Hindu
The new Nuclear Suppliers Group guidelines on enrichment and reprocessing technology will not in any way detract from the existing United States-India nuclear cooperation and the Obama administration fully supported the so-called clean NSG exception for India, according to U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake.
With less than three weeks to go before the second round of the India-United States Strategic Dialogue in New Delhi, Mr. Blake, in a web briefing with select media, also denied that the U.S. had any concerns about losing out to potential rivals Russia and France in the bid to supply civilian nuclear products to India.
‘Opportunities for U.S. companies’
Above and beyond that there were also some further technical aspects to address, such as the Part 810 non-proliferation assurances that India is required to supply to the U.S. Department of Energy. “As far as we know, those remain on track and again, that these will be a subject of discussion when the Secretary [of State Hillary Clinton] visits,” the Assistant Secretary noted.
Clinton to visit Chennai
According to sources, Ms. Clinton is expected to visit the Ford factory in Chennai and also hold a town hall meeting in the city.
‘Reduce limits on FDI’
Mr. Blake also responded to a query from The Hindu on areas of the Indian economy where the U.S. hoped to get more market access for U.S. companies.
“Our countries are hoping that the Indian Parliament and the Indian government will take actions to reduce some of the limits on foreign direct investment in areas such as retail that will provide huge new opportunities for our companies and help India to increase the level of foreign investment... and jobs in India and also lower the prices of food [which] is of increasing concern to Indian consumers.”
Sources here had earlier indicated that a key announcement on liberalising the multi-brand retail sector towards more foreign investment was likely during the Strategic Dialogue.
Troop withdrawals from Afghan
Noting that the U.S. would closely consult with India on this process going forward, he added, “I expect that this will be a very important part of our strategic dialogue consultations.”
Mr. Blake also reiterated the U.S.’ “tremendous respect and admiration” for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s pledge to raise the total amount of assistance to Afghanistan to $2 billion.
Labels: clinton visit, India-United States Strategic Dialogue, India-US relations, nuclear cooperation
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Focus on economics in upcoming India-U.S. meetings
From The Hindu
The second round of the United States-India Strategic Dialogue is likely to be held in July, according to sources here, including statements by Robert Blake, Assistant Secretary of State for Central and South Asian Affairs. Additionally, the U.S. Treasury confirmed that the coming U.S.-India Economic and Financial Partnership will be held during June 27-28.
Speaking at a hearing on Capitol Hill this week, Mr. Blake spoke of the “arc” of U.S.-India relations, noting that the Obama-Singh meeting in Washington in November 2009 had opened a “new chapter” in the bilateral relationship.
Other senior officials confirmed that next month would be the likely window for the talks.
Mr. Blake too said that in July Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would travel to India to pursue with her Indian counterpart the “huge range of bilateral government-to-government activity,” specifically 21 separate sub-dialogues that include trade, defence, visas and innovation.
While trade and investments for innovation have broadly seen a strong upswing in recent years, there are outstanding issues relating to defence and visas that the two sides may seek to iron out.
Although, as Mr. Blake said, U.S. firms obtained almost $8 billion in defence sales in the past four years, including the purchase of 10 Boeing C-17 airlifters, six C-130J aircraft, and eight P-8I long-range maritime patrol aircraft, the U.S. was ruled out during competitive bidding for the purchase of Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft by the Indian Air Force.
The decision, in April, to consider either the European Eurofighter or the French Rafale caught some policymakers here off-guard, raising questions about the extent to which India would continue to deepen its military ties with the U.S.
Thriving ties
Mr. Blake said U.S. visa issuance to Indians was a good indicator of “thriving relations,” and in the last four years, “Indians have received about half of all H1-B visas issued worldwide, and more than 44 per cent of all L-1 intra-company transfer visas.” He noted that 6,50,000 Indians travelled to the U.S. in 2010, an 18 per cent increase over 2009.
However, in this area too there are numerous wrinkles to smooth out, including allegations that some Indian IT companies were misusing H1 and B1 visas. Indian Industry Minister Anand Sharma, who is set to arrive in Washington later this month for a series of meetings, reportedly said he planned to take up the matter with the U.S.
Mr. Sharma was quoted as saying: “We have taken this up on more than one occasion with the U.S. government; I had written twice to the U.S. trade representative ambassador Ron Kirk, it should come up in the joint Trade Policy Forum.”
A dominant theme throughout this month's meetings in Washington and next month's talks in New Delhi is likely to be economic links and how they could be strengthened in the light of the ongoing recovery in the U.S.
In this context of particular salience will be the second annual meeting of the U.S.-India Economic and Financial Partnership, which will be hosted by U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and led by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on the Indian side.
The second round of the United States-India Strategic Dialogue is likely to be held in July, according to sources here, including statements by Robert Blake, Assistant Secretary of State for Central and South Asian Affairs. Additionally, the U.S. Treasury confirmed that the coming U.S.-India Economic and Financial Partnership will be held during June 27-28.
Speaking at a hearing on Capitol Hill this week, Mr. Blake spoke of the “arc” of U.S.-India relations, noting that the Obama-Singh meeting in Washington in November 2009 had opened a “new chapter” in the bilateral relationship.
Other senior officials confirmed that next month would be the likely window for the talks.
Mr. Blake too said that in July Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would travel to India to pursue with her Indian counterpart the “huge range of bilateral government-to-government activity,” specifically 21 separate sub-dialogues that include trade, defence, visas and innovation.
While trade and investments for innovation have broadly seen a strong upswing in recent years, there are outstanding issues relating to defence and visas that the two sides may seek to iron out.
Although, as Mr. Blake said, U.S. firms obtained almost $8 billion in defence sales in the past four years, including the purchase of 10 Boeing C-17 airlifters, six C-130J aircraft, and eight P-8I long-range maritime patrol aircraft, the U.S. was ruled out during competitive bidding for the purchase of Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft by the Indian Air Force.
The decision, in April, to consider either the European Eurofighter or the French Rafale caught some policymakers here off-guard, raising questions about the extent to which India would continue to deepen its military ties with the U.S.
Thriving ties
Mr. Blake said U.S. visa issuance to Indians was a good indicator of “thriving relations,” and in the last four years, “Indians have received about half of all H1-B visas issued worldwide, and more than 44 per cent of all L-1 intra-company transfer visas.” He noted that 6,50,000 Indians travelled to the U.S. in 2010, an 18 per cent increase over 2009.
However, in this area too there are numerous wrinkles to smooth out, including allegations that some Indian IT companies were misusing H1 and B1 visas. Indian Industry Minister Anand Sharma, who is set to arrive in Washington later this month for a series of meetings, reportedly said he planned to take up the matter with the U.S.
Mr. Sharma was quoted as saying: “We have taken this up on more than one occasion with the U.S. government; I had written twice to the U.S. trade representative ambassador Ron Kirk, it should come up in the joint Trade Policy Forum.”
A dominant theme throughout this month's meetings in Washington and next month's talks in New Delhi is likely to be economic links and how they could be strengthened in the light of the ongoing recovery in the U.S.
In this context of particular salience will be the second annual meeting of the U.S.-India Economic and Financial Partnership, which will be hosted by U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and led by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on the Indian side.
Labels: India-US relations, Robert Blake, United States-India Strategic Dialogue
Sunday, January 30, 2011
U.S. MMRCA fighters “formidable best buys” for India
From The Hindu
As the competition for obtaining a $10 billion contract to sell India 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) reaches its final stages, an influential think-tank in Washington has pressed the case for India selecting U.S.-made fighters.
This week a report by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace argued that although European aircraft are “technically superb,” their U.S. competitors could be considered “formidable best buys,” so long as Washington offered New Delhi generous terms on the transfer of technology that assured India access to fifth-generation fighters and provided “strong support for India’s strategic ambitions.”
While eight countries and six companies are in the race to win the lucrative contract, India has so far not indicated any strong preferences between the competitors and some experts have noted that it may decide to carve the contract up between several vendors, partly out of political considerations.
However in the CEIP report “Dogfight! India’s MMRCA Decision,” its author Ashley Tellis argued that this may be a less than optimal outcome because “While Indian leaders may be tempted to split the purchase among vendors… doing so would needlessly saddle the Indian Air Force with multiple airframes in return for meagre political gains.”
Mr. Tellis further underscored the significance of the ongoing tender process as it would help fill the “growing and dangerous hole in the IAF’s capabilities,” that the IAF’s “all-time low of 29 squadrons” represents.
In his report he argued that although this situation had arisen due to delays in defence procurement and accidents and retirements relating to older fighter aircraft, “India’s neighbours are aggressively modernising their own air forces,” and hence the MMRCA purchase decision was an imperative to reach the currently authorised force levels of 39.5 squadrons before 2017.
Mr. Tellis’ report concedes that political considerations would however be key in the selection process and “Indian policymakers will seek to minimise the country’s vulnerability to supply cut-offs in wartime, improve its larger military capacity through a substantial technology infusion, and forge new transformative geopolitical partnerships that promise to accelerate the growth of Indian power globally.”
As the competition for obtaining a $10 billion contract to sell India 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) reaches its final stages, an influential think-tank in Washington has pressed the case for India selecting U.S.-made fighters.
This week a report by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace argued that although European aircraft are “technically superb,” their U.S. competitors could be considered “formidable best buys,” so long as Washington offered New Delhi generous terms on the transfer of technology that assured India access to fifth-generation fighters and provided “strong support for India’s strategic ambitions.”
While eight countries and six companies are in the race to win the lucrative contract, India has so far not indicated any strong preferences between the competitors and some experts have noted that it may decide to carve the contract up between several vendors, partly out of political considerations.
However in the CEIP report “Dogfight! India’s MMRCA Decision,” its author Ashley Tellis argued that this may be a less than optimal outcome because “While Indian leaders may be tempted to split the purchase among vendors… doing so would needlessly saddle the Indian Air Force with multiple airframes in return for meagre political gains.”
Mr. Tellis further underscored the significance of the ongoing tender process as it would help fill the “growing and dangerous hole in the IAF’s capabilities,” that the IAF’s “all-time low of 29 squadrons” represents.
In his report he argued that although this situation had arisen due to delays in defence procurement and accidents and retirements relating to older fighter aircraft, “India’s neighbours are aggressively modernising their own air forces,” and hence the MMRCA purchase decision was an imperative to reach the currently authorised force levels of 39.5 squadrons before 2017.
Mr. Tellis’ report concedes that political considerations would however be key in the selection process and “Indian policymakers will seek to minimise the country’s vulnerability to supply cut-offs in wartime, improve its larger military capacity through a substantial technology infusion, and forge new transformative geopolitical partnerships that promise to accelerate the growth of Indian power globally.”
Labels: India-US relations, Indian defence purchase, MMRCA aircraft
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Menon meets Obama, Donilon
From The Hindu
Indian National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon met with his counterpart, National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, and President Barack Obama joined the meeting, according to a White House statement.
Describing the meetings as a “follow-up on the outcomes of President Obama and Indian Prime Minister Singh’s historic Summit in India in November 2010,” the White House said Mr. Donilon and Mr. Menon had discussed ways to advance the two countries’ bilateral agenda during 2011.
This would include the implementation of initiatives launched in November and building new platforms for collaboration to fulfil “the promise of our global strategic partnership,” according to the White House press office.
The interaction was said to have comprised “candid, in-depth discussions on regional and global issues of mutual concern.”
Mr. Obama was specifically said to have reaffirmed to Mr. Menon his commitment to building a “true global, strategic partnership with India.” He also relayed his priorities for the coming year, including advancing our bilateral economic relationship and making progress on nuclear security efforts.
Labels: India-US relations, Menon-Clinton meet
Subscribe to Comments [Atom]
