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Wednesday,
May 15, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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It is a barbaric act: Rocca
New Delhi, May 14 “On behalf of my government, I would like to unequivocally condemn the attack”, Ms Rocca said in a meeting organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here. “It is this type of barbaric terrorism that the international war on terrorism is determined to stop”, she said. Ms Rocca described the Indo-US military relations as the “most topical area of partnership” and said it was an illustration of the way in which India-US ties are moving “from the discussion stage to active cooperation”. On the joint military exercise currently being undertaken by US and Indian troops in Agra, she said the specific goal of the exercise was to conduct joint parachute training and mutual familiarisation with small arms. “But the larger, long term goal is much more ambitious, and is based on strategic, diplomatic and political cooperation as well as sound economic ties”, Ms Rocca said. Even though this joint exercise is an important milepost, it is only the latest indicator of the impressive growth in military cooperation between India and the USA. The US and Indian navies have also conducted exercises and US Navy ships have made seven port visits in the past few months, Ms Rocca said. “Military to military cooperation, for long a subject of discussion between us, is now producing tangible progress towards this objective”, she said. She also said Indian and US military forces were now actively developing the capability to work together effectively. Such cooperative activity between military organisations was a normal aspect of relations between countries and “I anticipate more such exercises to follow Agra”, the Assistant Secretary of State said. Describing India as a “vital ally” in the campaign to destroy the Al-Qaida organisation, Ms Rocca said Indo-US cooperation had contributed to the arrest of hundreds of terrorists around the world.While the Indo-US counter-terrorism cooperation was rapidly maturing, Rocca said both countries were “natural partners in another front of the war against terrorism — cyber terrorism”. “Just over two weeks ago our two countries held their first formal consultations on how to combat new emerging threats to our critical national infrastructure. Our professional-level dialogue, conducted from here on, through the US-India Cyber Security Forum, will be continuous as we work to protect both Indian and American societies from the threats of cyber attack,” she said. “Nonproliferation remains an important item on our bilateral agenda”, she said adding : “We are confident that the Indian government shares our concerns about preventing the spread of sensitive technologies since the diffusion of Weapons of Mass Destruction and missiles pose a serious threat to the security of both countries.” Ms Rocca said another area where there was a great scope for cooperation was export controls. “We have already had a series of expert-level discussions and conducted training for Indian customs officials”. On Afghanistan she said the success of the Bonn conference that established an interim government in Afghanistan owed much to Indo-US cooperation and added that this collaboration would play a crucial role in meeting the challenge of restoring stability in Afghanistan. “The USA and India remain co-chairs of the community of democracies and will continue to work together to promote democracy throughout the world. Our collaboration can only make the world a safer and more just place,” she said.  |
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Attack during Rocca visit ‘on purpose’ New Delhi, May 14 “It is not a coincidence that the incident has occurred at a time when a senior US State Department official (Christina
Rocca) is visiting the country,” the Home Minister said in a suo motu statement in both Houses. Raising the matter soon after the House re-assembled after lunch recess, an angry Raghuvansh Prasad Singh (RJD) said 54 persons had been killed in the attack and the Home Minister should resign. In the Rajya
Sabha, Congress member Ghulam Nabi Azad demanded a statement on the incident before the House adjourned for the day. He was supported by the leader of the Opposition in the House, Dr Manmohan Singh and Mr Suresh
Pachauri. |
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