Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Underscores The Pivotal Role India Plays

By Merle David Kellerhals Jr.

President Obama says the official visit of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh underscores the pivotal role India plays in meeting the major challenges the two nations face.

"The relationship between the United States and India will be one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century," Obama said at a joint press conference ( http://www.america.gov/st/texttrans-english/2009/November/20091124160044xjsnommis0.1715596.html ) with Singh November 24 at the White House.

The two leaders met for nearly two hours in the Oval Office before taking limited questions from U.S. and Indian journalists in the East Room at the White House.

Obama said the invitation to Singh "reflects our admiration for the prime minister's leadership, the deep bonds between the peoples of the United States and India and the historic opportunity we have to strengthen and broaden the partnership between our nations."

"When India and the United States meet, it is a moment to celebrate the values of democracy, pluralism, liberty and freedom," Singh said alongside the president. "In our discussions today, we reaffirmed the importance of our relationship and decided on future steps to enhance our strategic partnership."

Obama and Singh pledged to improve cooperation on energy security, clean energy initiatives and climate change. Obama said they agreed to a series of new efforts: a clean energy initiative designed to create jobs and improve access to cleaner, more affordable energy; a partnership to reduce poverty through sustainable and equitable development; and an effort to phase out subsides for fossil fuels.

In December, the 15th Session of the Conference of Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which will include representatives from 192 nations, will be held in Copenhagen. The climate accord to be developed at the Copenhagen meeting is designed to succeed the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which required 37 industrialized nations to cut greenhouse gas emissions an average of 5 percent by 2012.

"With just two weeks until the beginning of Copenhagen, it's also essential that all countries do what is necessary to reach a strong operational agreement that will confront the threat of climate change while serving as a steppingstone to a legally binding treaty," Obama said.

Singh said he and Obama agreed on the need for a substantive and comprehensive outcome during the Copenhagen talks, which broadly would cover ways to bring about needed changes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that are believed to be a significant factor in global warming.

SECURITY COOPERATION

Obama and Singh also agreed to expand the U.S.-India Counterterrorism Cooperation Initiative, which includes sharing intelligence and law enforcement information about global and regional terrorist activities. Such information sharing is considered essential for counterterrorism programs.

"The American people join our Indian friends in remembering the horrific attacks in Mumbai one year ago this week," Obama said. "To prevent future attacks, we agreed that our law enforcement and intelligence agencies will work even closer, including sharing information."

Obama thanked Singh for his support of the president's nuclear nonproliferation agenda laid out in a major address in Prague ( http://www.america.gov/st/texttrans-english/2009/April/20090406115740eaifas0.9701763.html ) earlier this year. Obama's plan includes preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction and missile-related technology.

On regional security issues, Obama said he and Singh held extensive discussions, noting that there have been "historic conflicts between India and Pakistan."

"We both recognize that our core goal is to achieve peace and security for all peoples in the region, not just one country or the other," Obama said. "It is not the place of the United States to try to, from the outside, resolve all those conflicts. We want to be encouraging of ways in which both India and Pakistan can feel secure, and focus on the development of their own countries and their own people."

ENHANCING EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT

To enhance global food security, U.S. and Indian researchers will collaborate to improve agricultural output and reduce hunger through enhanced crop forecasting, management and market information; boost regional and global food security through the Group of Eight (G8) food security initiative; work on science and technology issues; and expand private sector investment in agriculture. "India has much to teach the developing world in terms of achieving food sufficiency," Obama said.

The two leaders also announced the expansion of the binational Fulbright-Nehru Scholarship Program through a 45 percent increase in funding by each government to support increased student and scholar exchanges. The increase in funding will support $6.7 million in scholarships this year, the White House said in a fact sheet.

And a knowledge initiative will provide $10 million in combined funding to increase linkages for U.S. and Indian universities and support junior faculty development.

Obama and Singh also announced that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will partner with Indian counterparts to create a new disease-detection center in India that will be designed to combat infectious diseases and promote global health. The collaboration will include a range of activities such as emerging disease detection and response, pandemic influenza preparedness and response, laboratory systems and biosafety, field epidemiology training, health communications, and certain types of disease investigation and control. The center in India will join a network of centers in Kenya, Thailand, Guatemala, Egypt, China and Kazakhstan.

(This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)