SPECIAL/BROOKINGS-FICCI ON US-INDIA
Washington to Delhi: Implement nuclear deal
to realize full bilateral potential
AZIZ HANIFFA
The Obama administration has asserted that full implementation of the United States-India civilian uclear deal — in limbo in the wake of the Indian
Parliament’s nuclear liability law, which American business
and industry feel is prohibitive — is imperative for the full
transformation of the US-India relationship.
‘Completing our civil nuclear partnership is central to
both our nations’ long-term prosperity and India’s future
energy security,’ said Deputy Secretary of State William
Burns. He was delivering a keynote address at the third
Brookings Institution-Federation of Indian Chambers of
Commerce and Industry ‘Strategic dialogue on US-India
relations’, on the subject, ‘Is there a future to the US-India
strategic partnership?’
Burns said, ‘For international and Indian firms to partic-
ipate in India’s civil nuclear sector, India needs a nuclear
liability regime consistent with international standards. To
this end, we welcome India’s commitment to ratify the
Convention on Supplemental Compensation later this year,
and we encourage India to engage with the International
Atomic Energy Agency to ensure that India’s liability
regime fully conforms with the international requirements
under the convention. The next step in the pursuit of
mutual prosperity is a US-India bilateral investment treaty,
which would enhance transparency, boost innovation, and
create jobs.’
He noted: ‘Just as the United States will be integral to
India’s sustained economic growth and its efforts to lift
hundreds of millions out of poverty, India’s emergence will
be integral to long-term US economic prosperity.’
He had earlier in the keynote warned: ‘A strong US-India
partnership is neither automatic nor self-implementing.
We each carry baggage of different kinds, and we each have
our own worldviews, our own domestic preoccupations,
and our own sense of our interests. Problems and dis-
agreements will inevitably arise.’
But, Burns argued, ‘No one should mistake the inevitable
ENRIQUE CAS TRO-MENDIVIL/REUTERS
Deputy Secretary of State William Burns
differences between two close, opinionated friends for loss
of momentum, or worse, the lack of a future. Our track
record is clear and our commitment is firm.’
The future of the US-India strategic partnership, he said,
‘Will bear no resemblance to the distant past of mutual
estrangement, but it is also unlikely to always resemble the
recent past — when it seemed every 18 months brought
new breakthroughs like the civil-nuclear deal, or support
for (Delhi’s) permanent UNSC (UN Security Council)
membership, or export controls reform. Our challenge
today is to broaden and deepen our bilateral, regional, and
global cooperation. Given India’s emergence as a global
power and the breadth of our common challenges, no sin-
gle issue and no single breakthrough can or should define
our partnership. What matters is its overall health, its
steady progress, and the long-term investment required to
sustain both.’
He continued: ‘ The greatest risk is not disagreement — it
is inattention. It is the possibility, through domestic politi-
cal distractions or failure of imagination or simple compla-
cency, that America and India might leave the full potential
of our partnership unmet… The question is whether we are
doing as much as we can to ensure that we realize its full
promise. Few questions will matter more — for both of us
— in the new century unfolding before us.’
India’s new Ambassador to the US, Nirupama Rao, in her
keynote, acknowledged: ‘Of course there would be issues
on which there will be a difference of views. In a relation-
ship as wide in scope as India-US strategic partnership, it
is quite natural that we would not have the same views on
all the issues. But we need to deal with a sense of maturity
without losing sight of the broad, long-term strategic goals
of this relationship and with sensitivity to each other’s vital
interests. Ours is a natural and enduring partnership. It is
my firm conviction that the future of India-US strategic
partnership is very promising and will advance the cause of
peace and prosperity of our two peoples.’
At the outset, Burns praised Rao, calling her ‘an extraor-
dinary diplomat and a wonderful friend.’
Burns also heaped praise on Strobe Talbott, former
deputy secretary of state (Clinton administration) and now
Brookings Institution president, saying, ‘Strobe’s vision
helped put US-India relations on their current productive
path.’
Burns puts Lashkar on par with Haqqanis
AZIZ HANIFFA
Asenior State Department official last week declared that the Lashkar-e- Tayiba is equally dangerous even
more dangerous than the Haqqani network, which seems to have catapulted to
being the flavor of the day in terms of Inter
Service’s Intelligence-supported terrorist
groups in South Asia.
Following his keynote at the Brookings-FICCI ‘Strategic dialogue on US-India relations’, Deputy Secretary of State William
Burns was asked about Pakistan-sponsored
terrorist proxies.
‘The President and Secretary (of State
Hillary) Clinton have been very clear about
the depths of our concern,’ Burns replied,
‘not just about the Haqqani network and
the obvious threat it poses to us as well as to
others in the region as well as to the people
of Pakistan. But, we’ve also stressed the
importance of not distinguishing amongst
different terrorist or violent extremist
groups, whether it’s the Haqqanis or
Lashkar-e-Tayiba.’
Burns pointed out: ‘Lashkar, as you know,
we regard in the United States as a terrorist
organization, as a threat to us, as a threat to
India, as a threat to Pakistan’s future, as
well as a threat to people around the world.
And so, we believe, that there is a shared
interest with Pakistan in fighting against
those groups, and we believe that it is
deeply in Pakistan’s interest to act against
that threat.’
He said, ‘Particularly since that horrible
— that horrific — attack in Mumbai almost
three years ago, counterterrorism coopera-
tion between the United States and India
has increased considerably and that’s
something we attach a very high priority to
and look forward to expanding.’
Indian Ambassador Nirupama Rao noted
that Delhi’s constant refrain has been that
‘you cannot have a segmented approach
when it comes to applying pressure on any
terrorist groups… This realization is being
shared and India is no longer a Cassandra
of these issues. India’s point of view is
increasingly believed in and subscribed to.’
At the regular noon briefing before Burns
delivered his keynote, State Department
Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland, respond-
ing to reports that Pakistan would not be
coerced into taking action against the
Haqqani network, said, ‘Obviously if the
Pakistani government chooses not to take
action, we would have to carefully consider
how to proceed… We believe that we can
strengthen our cooperation together, that
we can work together and tackle this
threat… This counterterrorism relationship
is based on our shared interest in defeating
terror in that part of the world — terror
that has killed more Pakistanis than any-
body else. That is the case that we make…
that you can’t differentiate one terrorist
versus another terrorist. They’re all a threat
to the region. They’re all a threat to all of
us.’
At the Brookings-FICCI event, Burns
said, ‘Just to be honest, we understand very
well sometimes the questions that have
been raised by thoughtful Indians about US
policy in Afghanistan and/or the nature of
our commitment. Whether or not we real-
ize the long-term nature of that commit-
ment beyond 2014 and the planned draw-
down of US military forces and handover to
Afghan security forces. We understand that
we need to address those kinds of ques-
tions, not only for the sake of India and our
partners there, but also because we recog-
nize what’s at stake in Afghanistan.’
Rao pointed out that when Secretary
Clinton and India’s External Affair
Minister S M Krishna met on the margins
of the UN General Assembly sessions last
week for nearly 50 minutes, ‘they devoted a
lot of time to the situation in the region and
Afghanistan.’
