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Bush to visit India in January 2006

     Washington: US President George W Bush will visit India in January 2006. This was disclosed by Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh during an interaction with the Indian media. He said that when he had arrived at the White House for his ceremonial, he had used the opportunity to extend an invitation to President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush to visit India, and they had accepted the invitation. The actual dates of the visit would be worked out by officials of both sides later, he said.

Terrorism can derail peace process with Pakistan: Manmohan

     Washington: Condemning Wednesday's car bomb blast near a Srinagar school, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that acts of terrorism on Indian soil could derail the ongoing composite dialogue process with Pakistan. Interacting with the Indian press a day before his departure from Washington, Dr. Singh said that he was shocked to hear the news of the suicide car blast, and the deaths of six people, including three army personnel. He said that President Bush appreciated India's stand on terrorism, and the need that both countries should join hands to wipe out this scourge. The Prime Minister's statement was a reflection of the views that he has expressed throughout his three-day first bilateral visit to Washington.

US invasion of Iraq was a mistake: Manmohan (Go To Top)
by Smita Prakash

     Washington: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on the last day of his three-day visit to the US, said that the invasion of Iraq by the United States was a mistake. "In my sincere view, the invasion (by the US) was a mistake," said Dr. Singh when asked what he felt about the US attack on Iraq to topple the government of Saddam Hussain on charges of possessing weapons of mass destructions. Dr. Singh was addressing members of the National Press Club, the largest and most prestigious club in the world with membership that includes national and international reporters, in Washington on Wednesday afternoon. The Prime Minister, however, referred to the matter as a "thing of the past" and said that efforts should be made to see that democratic institutions take deeper roots in war-torn Iraq. Offering India's support in reconstructing Iraq, Dr. Singh said that Iraqi society is similiar to Indian as it is multi-religious and multi-faceted. He said that the Indian Constitution can provide necessary inputs to manage the contradictions of Iraqi polity. The speech of the Prime Minister earned several rounds of applause. When asked about the conflict between cross-border terrorism and peace process with Pakistan, Dr. Singh said: the climate of concrete dialogue process with Pakistan can easily be vitiated if Pakistan's territory continues to be used to fan terror activities in India." He also said that terror attacks like Wednesday's suicide bomb blast in Srinagar could derail the ongoing peace process and he can do little to save it. "If that commitment (to stop terror activities from Pakistani soil) is not kept, I, as a Prime Minister of a democratic country cannot move ahead of public opinion. If acts of terror continues to take place originating from the Pakistani territory, that affects my capability to carry forward the peace process," Dr. Singh said.

     The Prime Minister, however, accepted that he had not received any commitment from the US President on India's candidature for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) but pointed out that US has recognised the need for India's role in the management of international affairs in coming years. He also reiterated India's emergence as a global power to be reckoned with in various areas. Apart from highlighting India's pains about terrorism again, he talked about the need for strong Indo-US joint mechanisms to deal with upcoming global problems in the areas of defence, healthcare and social development. The Prime Minister is also elaborated upon the discussions he had with the US leadership including US President George W Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney over the past two days. Dr. Singh held meetings with US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, US Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neil, besides other key officials on Tuesday following an address to the joint session of the US Congress. He also attended Congress International Relations Committee meeting, Indian Caucus lunch and a meeting with Indian community at the US on Tuesday. The National Press Club has been a part of American life for more than 90 years. Its members have included Presidents of the United States--from Theodore Roosevelt to Bill Clinton. Most have spoken from the Club's podium, some to declare their candidacies for the highest office in the land. An average of 70 luncheons each year provide a national forum for the views of Presidents, Prime Ministers, business and cultural leaders, members of the Cabinet and Congress. Over the years, major news has been made at the Club: Nikita Khrushchev, Winston Churchill, Madame Chiang Kai Shek, Golda Meir, Indira Gandhi, Charles deGaulle, Boris Yeltsin, Nelson Mandela, Yasir Arafat and many others have made headlines at the Press Club podium.

Be a highway for flow of ideas, technology and capital: PM (Go To Top)

     Washington: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday called on the Indian community in the U.S. to become a veritable highway for a two-way flow of ideas, technology and capital and thanked them for their contribution in promoting India's emergence as a force to be recknoned with globally. "It is your creativity, your knowledge, your entrepreneurship and work ethics that has helped to greatly transform the image of India in American minds. You embody the knowledge partnership between us, whose broadening will surely make Indo-U.S. ties one of the principal relationships of the world," Dr. Singh said. "I expect you to do more for the development of India as you could facilitate the two-way "flow of ideas, technology and capital" between India and the US," added Dr. Singh while addressing an approximately 1500-strong crowd of Indian Americans at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel's ballroom Tuesday evening. The Prime Minister further elaborated upon the purpose of his visit to the U.S., and how India and the U.S. could move towards a broad-based strategic partnership. "First, to enhance an appreciation of these very changes which have given us the capabilities to better parter the U.S. Second, to emphasise that the U.S. can contribute significantly to the success of these process and help us to accelerate growth rates in India by its own policies and that (third) it's in the U.S. strategic interest that Indian economy expands rapidly in years to come," said the Prime Minister. Hailing India and the U.S. as two key knowledge driven societies, Dr. Singh said it was high time to recognise each other's potential and embark upon a journey of greater cooperation and understanding to meet upcoming challenges. 'I believe the 21st century will be a global one, belonging to global citizens. It will be a century of freedom, of democracy, of multi-culturalism and of knowledge. These are the very values you represent, values we admire. Through your commitment and efforts, India and the Indo-US partnership will grow together," Dr. Singh said.

     India, he said, is facing many challenges which could be overcome only through consolidated efforts to bridge the gap between a shining India and a burning India; to create a balance between the growing urban class, while simultaneously addressing the basic needs of the poor and the underprivileged. Several rounds of applause greeted Dr. Singh's speech. The Indian American community cheered the vision of the man who has put India on the path of economic reform. It was the opening up of the Indian economy during Dr. Singh's tenure as Finance Minister that made India a growing economic power in the era of globalisation. The event, organised by the Embassy of India, was attended by big wigs of India's corporate sector ranging from Tata Sons Chairman Ratan Tata to HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh and the Hinduja brothers.

Analysts disagree with Brajesh Mishra on US ties (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: Analysts in New Delhi have discounted former National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra's assessment that the Indo-U.S. agreement in Washington on Monday would put a cap on India's minimum nuclear deterrent. Former Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs Vinod Grover told ANI that India has already agreed to a moratorium to restrict ourselves. As such the new agreement on production of fissile materials does not make any material difference. "We have already agreed to a moratorium to restrict ourselves. So, it doesn't make a difference," Grover said. Another former diplomat A.N.Ram differed from Brajesh Mishra, and said: "I do not read it ( Indo-US Agreement on Nuclear Cooperation ) in the way Mr.Brajesh Mishra has done it. We have given no quid pro. We have accepted the same responsibility that are observed by nuclear power states. India has been given defacto nuclear power status without signing on the dotted line of the NPT." What Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did is a "fair and practical way out of the quagmire," he added. The agreement signed in Washington will enable India to obtain nucklear fuel for its Tarapore nuclear plant and other nuclear reactors. India will also be able to gain access to dual technologies that was denied to New Delhi since the 1998 Pokhran nuclear tests. The Indo-U.S. statement recognises that India will have the same status as any nuclear state. The United States will now seek agreement from the U.S.Congress to make the necessary changes in American laws and policies. The U.S.will also persuade the Nuclear Suppliers Group "to adjust international regimes to enable full civil nuclear cooperation and trade within India." The joint statement commits India to its uniltaeral moratorium on nuclear testing and working with the U.S. for multilateral fissile material cut-off treaty.

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