Obama's visit to mark a milestone in India-US ties, official says

Wed, 03 Nov 2010

New Delhi - US President Barack Obama's upcoming visit to India would result in consolidating the countries' strategic partnership and would mark an important milestone in their relations, India's top diplomat, Nirupama Rao, said.

"We will see concrete and significant steps in a wide range of areas that will expand the long-term strategic framework of the relationship in a way that we can create a productive partnership for the mutual benefit of our two countries and, equally important, to give substantive content and shape to our global strategic partnership," she said.

"The visit could be an important milestone in our shared journey," Rao added in the speech made at a diplomatic function Tuesday night in New Delhi.

Obama is to arrive Saturday in the western city of Mumbai for a four-day tour of the South Asian country.

Key issues that were expected to be covered in his talks with Indian leaders were the global economic situation, terrorism, the security situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and stability in Asia.

Rao played down expectations of major announcements during the tour, saying the visit would not result in "dramatic breakthroughs and big bang."

"There has been far too much focus on the transactional aspects of this visit," she said. "All relationships entail transactions, but sustained, long-term partnerships are built on certain basic principles."

India and the United States have built strong ties over the past decade, a marked transformation from strained relations during the Cold War when New Delhi was seen as close to Moscow.

Indian officials said trade, defense, counterterrorism, educational and scientific ties have grown rapidly in recent years.

In 2008, the countries signed a landmark deal for civilian nuclear cooperation, which allowed for the lifting of a three-decade ban on trade in nuclear material with India.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/351678,india-us-ties-official-says.html.