Writing the Next Chapter in U.S.-India Relations

Subject: Writing the Next Chapter in U.S.-India Relations

The East-West Wire is a news, commentary, and analysis service provided by the East-West Center in Honolulu. Any part or all of the Wire content may be used by media with attribution to the East-West Center or the person quoted. Subscribe here to receive Wire releases via email.

Writing the Next Chapter in
U.S.-India Relations

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 20, 2011) -- Indian-Americans have contributed much to the fabric of American society, and will “help write the next chapter of the U.S.-India partnership,” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in a videotaped message shown at a recent dialogue on U.S.-India relations led by top State Department officials. “We know that you are scholars, business leaders, politicians and artists, musicians, academics, physicians, lawyers and so much more,” Clinton said. “And you have helped cement the bonds between India and the United States.”

Regarding the U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue talks held in New Delhi this week, Clinton said that the two countries are “working together to create economic opportunity for people, to fight terrorism and violent extremism, to halt the spread of nuclear weapons. We are addressing climate change and giving more people and nations a pathway out of poverty.”

“But we know that governments alone cannot solve all of today’s problems,” she said. “That’s why we need your ideas and we need your energy and your commitment to help us meet some of the most complicated and pressing challenges of our time.”

Click here for transcripts and videos of the July 11 discussion, which featured Under Secretary of State Richard Hormats and Assistant Secretary Robert Blake, the Obama Administration's point person on U.S.-India relations. Jointly organized by the East-West Center in Washington and the India-U.S. World Affairs Institute with support from the U.S. Department of State, the event was titled “The United States and India: Promoting Shared Prosperity and Global Security.”

Hormats said that the global strategic partnership between the United States and India “is founded on shared values and exceptional people-to-people ties, but we must remember that this is a long-term project. Neither country can take this relationship for granted. … It is important to build the political support in Washington and Delhi as well as in Mumbai and Manhattan to take this relationship further. We need to think more ambitiously about what we can achieve and where our partnership will go over the rest of the 21st century.”

Blake said that this week’s government-to-government talks would focus on ways the U.S. could work more closely with in India regarding its growing role in Asia and the wider region, particularly in Afghanistan “and our hopes that we can significantly expand regional economic integration for the benefit not only of Afghanistan, but also Pakistan and India.”

Counter-terrorism would continue to be a major focus of cooperation between the two nations, Blake said, along with sustained economic progress. “Of course we want to see the next generation of economic reforms in India that will help to sustain that progress and … become the third largest economy in the world, but also a hugely important market for the United States.”
“We see so many different opportunities to work together,” he said.
###
The EAST-WEST CENTER promotes better relations and understanding among the people and nations of the United States, Asia, and the Pacific through cooperative study, research, and dialogue. Established by the U.S. Congress in 1960, the Center serves as a resource for information and analysis on critical issues of common concern, bringing people together to exchange views, build expertise, and develop policy options.