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On the eve of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the United States, New Delhi and Washington decided last week to give further impetus to the already strong bilateral relation by pursuing new areas of collaboration, leveraging the talents of government and the private sector to make their nations more secure and prosperous.
At the first U.S.-India Strategic and Commercial Dialogue held in Washington D.C. Sept. 22, the two sides, led by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Secretary of State John Kerry, recognized that the India-U.S. partnership was a significant contributor to the peace, stability and prosperity in the Indian Ocean and Asia-Pacific regions, and around the globe.
They noted in a joint statement that ties between the two countries have never been stronger as reflected by “unprecedented strategic cooperation, record levels of bilateral trade and investment, and more than two million annual visits between their citizens, students, and entrepreneurs.”
An important takeaway from the meeting was the U.S affirmation of its support for India’s membership in the Missile Technology Control Regime at its upcoming plenary, the Nuclear Suppliers Group, and in the other global nonproliferation export control regimes.
The U.S. also reaffirmed its support for a reformed United Nations Security Council with India as a permanent member, an issue on which New Delhi has been vocal for a longtime.
The two the sides also welcomed continued cooperation under the Joint Strategic Vision for the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean region agreed by President Obama and Prime Minister Modi. The U.S. side commended India’s leadership in evacuating foreign nationals including U.S. citizens, from conflict in Yemen as well as cooperation between the U.S. and India on providing earthquake relief in Nepal. They agreed that India and the U.S. would work as partners in responding to the needs of civilians in global crises.
In her opening remarks, Swaraj said that these are busy times in India-U.S. relations. “The impressive intensity, scale and level of achievements in our bilateral engagement since last year, is a testimony to the leadership, direct supervision and the tremendous importance attached to the bilateral relationship by our leaders, Prime Minister Modi and President Obama,” she said.
The two leaders were joined by Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker and Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman.
One of the important areas of cooperation would be on U.N. peacekeeping mission. Kerry said that the two countries agreed to train troops in six African countries before they are deployed to U.N. peacekeeping missions. Recognizing the centrality of peacekeeping to the UN’s efforts for maintenance of international peace and security, the sides committed to enhance cooperation in peacekeeping capacity building in third countries with a focus on training aspects for U.N. peacekeepers, especially in identified African countries.
Indian Officials in New York said that as one of the largest stakeholders in U.N. peacekeeping, India has a direct interest in ensuring the high salience of uniformed personnel in peacekeeping missions. It is imperative that India continues to be seen as country with the commitment and ability to provide U.N. peacekeeping not just in quantity but in highest quality of trained peacekeepers.
In order to strengthen institutional cooperation between ministries, the two sides announced a new diplomacy partnership between the Department of State and the Ministry of External Affairs which will include a new policy planning dialogue and coordination on the training of their diplomats through collaboration between respective Foreign Service Institutes.
Emphasizing the importance of building commercial ties to drive the U.S.-India partnership forward, they reviewed the outcomes of the first meeting of the reconstituted and expanded U.S.-India CEO Forum held Sept. 21. They were briefed on the forum’s recommendations by its U.S. and Indian co-chairs as part of enhanced discussions on commercial and economic issues.
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