E xtracts from the remarks of US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton Opens the Plenary Session of the U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue with Indian External Affairs Minister SM Krishna on June 3, 2010 at the Benjamin Franklin Room in Washington, DC.
“Let me just briefly review some of the topics of the dialogue. Security is a top priority because both of our nations have been seared by acts of terrorism on our home soil. Together, we will discuss how to increase our cooperation on counterterrorism by better sharing intelligence and training first responders to make our own homelands more secure.”
“The Civil Nuclear Cooperation Initiative provides the foundation for a strong partnership on another security challenge: nuclear proliferation.”
“We will also discuss our continued partnership in the area of defense. And we have Under Secretary Michelle Flournoy here today. The United States is committed to the modernization of India’s military, as demonstrated by our defense trade. Our military holds more exercises with India than with any other country. I think that might be a surprise to people in both of our countries. And we are both committed to training peacekeepers worldwide. And I want to recognize India’s long tradition of peacekeeping, which includes a squadron of Indian women peacekeepers serving in Liberia, whom I visited with when I attended a class of police recruits in Monrovia last August.”
“We will also address another urgent challenge: climate change. And I want to commend India, which has taken important steps, helping shape the Copenhagen Accord and pledging to lower its greenhouse gas emissions by up to 25 percent by 2020. And we have our climate envoy, Todd Stern, here with us. Through our Partnership to Advance Clean Energy, Indian and American scientists will together develop and deploy technologies that reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. This collaboration taps into a strength we share: our capacity for
scientific innovation.”
“And connected to climate change is food security, a major initiative of the Obama Administration. India and the United States are working
to strengthen agriculture worldwide through our Feed the Future Initiative, to replicate the successes of India’s green revolution in places where food is still too difficult to grow, buy, or sell.”
“India’s growing global role requires us to reassess institutions of global governance. India’s rise will certainly be a factor in any future consideration of reform of the United Nations Security Council.”
“But India is not only a rising global power; it already is a regional power. And in this dialogue we will confront regional concerns – most
urgently, securing Afghanistan’s future.
India, the United States, and countries worldwide have a stake in a stable Afghanistan. And India’s contributions to Afghanistan’s future – including $1.3 billion in assistance – have been positive and significant. India is building Afghanistan’s new parliament building. And Indian and American groups are working together to help Afghan engineers bring greater source of electricity to Kabul.
Beyond Afghanistan, India wants to work with – India and United States want to work together to create an open and inclusive regional
architecture that makes it possible for countries throughout Asia to rise and prosper and gives India a greater room to participate and lead. So we must address regional priorities together – for example, the need to protect vital sea and air routes that foster trade and to
respond swiftly to natural disasters, as India did in its response to the tsunami.”
“Next year, when this dialogue meets in Delhi, we should be able to point to real results.”
