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| Thursday,
July 19, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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General Shelton arrives
on three-day
visit to India New Delhi, July 18 “India is a major power with global influence
and I hope we can establish a strong military-to-military
relationship,” the US army’s Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, said
on arrival here by a special aircraft for a visit which signals a
re-establishment of defence contacts that had suffered a setback after
the 1998 Pokhran nuclear tests. Developments in Indo-Pak relations
following the Agra summit is likely to be on the agenda of the
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the USA, Gen Henry H.
Shelton, during his official three-day visit to India from
today. Although Ministry of Defence (MoD) officials are not ready to
confirm whether the issue will be discussed during the visit, but
there are indications that the recent developments are likely to come
up when General Shelton meets the Defence and External Affairs
Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh and the Principal Secretary to the Prime
Minister, Mr Brajesh Mishra. General Shelton is scheduled to meet the
Defence Minister and the Principal Secretary tomorrow. Sources said
although the recent developments at the Agra summit might not be
discussed in detail as the visit was primarily for military reasons,
but he was likely to take back some reflections regarding it after his
meetings with Mr Jaswant Singh and Mr Brajesh Mishra. A message from
Mr Jaswant Singh and Mr Mishra regarding what transpired at the summit
and where was the difference of opinion between the two sides which
led to the talks breaking down without any agreement being reached
would be of importance to the US President, Mr George Bush. This
specially as there had been American pressure on both India and
Pakistan to come to a negotiated settlement on the issue which could
bring peace in the subcontinent. The USA, meanwhile, reacted in
Washington that the summit between Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee
and President Pervez Musharraf had shown the path to be taken for the
eventual settlement of differences between India and Pakistan. While
saying that the USA supported such senior level engagements, Assistant
Secretary of State for South Asia Christina B. Rocca said serious and
constructive atmosphere of the talks pointed to both sides being
committed to resolving their differences, even if it turned out to be
a lengthy process. General Shelton had to visit India in May end,
but his visit was called off at the last minute with what the MoD said
was due to his pressing domestic engagements. He had promised to
reschedule his visit at the earliest. Apparently, General Shelton had
put off his visit to India as a result of an internal debate in the
Pentagon, which was carrying out a quadrennial defence review. There
were major differences within the American military establishment over
various proposals being put forward. |
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USA reviewing curbs on India Washington, July 18 Stating that a review of the sanctions on India “is now under way”, Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Christina Rocca said “we will need to work closely with Congress to see how the current situation might be changed.” “Nonproliferation remains an important goal of the US policy. But we want to expand and transform our engagement on defence issues, talking more about potential areas of cooperation while continuing to narrow our remaining differences,” she told the Indian American Friendship Council last night. She said “a major change that is already detectable in our security dialogue, I think, is that we are now discussing a much wider range of topics.” Expressing the Bush Administration’s commitment towards “strengthening and intensifying our relations with India,” Ms Rocca said “the past few years have seen the beginning of a transformation in our ties with the world’s largest democracy. Now is the time to complete that transformation.” She said one of the characteristics of the Indo-US relationship and “the foundation of our policy is recognition of the vitality and importance of India to American interests. “Our interests and efforts will increasingly intersect throughout the world. I am confident our shared interests will generally enable the USA and India to work closely together,” Ms Rocca said.
PTI |
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Blackwill sworn in
US envoy to India Washington, July 18 An upbeat Mr Blackwill said he would endeavour to further strengthen bilateral ties between New Delhi and Washington. Speaking to a large Indian-American community present on the occasion, he said President George W. Bush recognised the growing importance of India in the new world order and took personal interest in the world’s largest democracy. Mr Blackwill said in his meeting with Mr Bush on Monday, the President “gave me my final instructions: His strategic objective is to transform this relationship.” “I am going to India to help the President transform this relationship,” he added. Stressing on India’s rising status in the Bush administration and the consensus on it, Mr Blackwill said before the elections he was part of a group which advised the President on foreign policy. They included Mr Condoleezza Rice, Mr Richard Armitage, those who are now key officials at the Pentagon. “All of them,” he said, “share this objective on Indo-US relations. There is determination on the part of all of them to transform this relationship “and we will be working closely with the Congress on that, and with you (Indian community) all.” Mr Blackwill said he hoped to be in India within the next week.
PTI |
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