US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Wednesday delivered his major policy speech on India, two days after FM Jaitley ended his week-long America visit.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Wednesday delivered his major policy speech on India, two days after FM Jaitley ended his week-long America visit.
Delivering his remarks on ‘Defining Our Relationship with India for Next Century’ at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Tillerson waxed eloquent about a new world with India and US as natural partners.
On a day when Xi Jinping held fort at the Communist Party Conference in Beijing, Tillerson played up India’s growing role in the region and talked up India as a democratic counterforce to China’s growing influence in the region.
Saying that his relationship with India dated back to 1998, Tillerson said that both PM Modi and US President Donald Trump were committed to building a strong India-US relationship, far more than their predecessors.
Interestingly, Tillerson said that India and US would start a new dialogue on terrorist designations. He said that India and America shared a deep affinity for democracy, and were two beacons of stability on different parts of the world.
He stated that China’s provocative actions in the South China Sea are against the sovereignty laws that India and US stand for. Speaking about the war on terror, he said: "US and India stand shoulder to shoulder against terrorism. In the last decade our counter terrorism cooperation has expanded significantly. It is the obligation, not choice of every civilized nation to combat terrorism."
President Donald Trump in August unveiled his Afghanistan and South Asia policy in which he had hit out at Pakistan for providing safe havens to "agents of chaos" that kill Americans in Afghanistan and warned Islamabad that it has "much to lose" by harbouring terrorists.
America's relationships in the region stand on their own merits, Tillerson told the audience.
In his major India policy speech, Tillerson said India-US cooperation in the field of counter-terrorism has strengthened in recent years.
"In the past decade, our counter-terrorism cooperation has expanded significantly. Thousands of Indian security personnel have trained with American counterparts to enhance capacity," he said.
The US and India are cross-screening known and suspected terrorists, and later this year, the two countries will convene a new dialogue on terrorist designations, he said.
"We are coordinating our counter-terrorism efforts more than ever before," the secretary of state said.
In July, Tillerson said, he signed the designation of Hizbul Mujhaideen as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation because the US and India stand shoulder-to-shoulder against terrorism.
Tillerson said India can serve as a clear example of a diverse, dynamic, and pluralistic country to others a flourishing democracy in the age of global terrorism.
The sub-continent is the birthplace of four of the world's major religions, and India's diverse population includes more than 170 million Muslims the third-largest Muslim population in the world, he said.
"Yet we do not encounter significant numbers of Indian Muslims among foreign fighters in the ranks of ISIS or other terror groups, which speaks to the strengths of Indian society," said the top American diplomat.
He said India is a partner of the US in Afghanistan.
"As we implement President Trump s new South Asia strategy, we will turn to our partners to ensure greater stability in Afghanistan and throughout the region. India is a partner for peace in Afghanistan and we welcome its assistance efforts," he said.
President Trump had vowed to boost strategic partnership with India in Afghanistan. Trump had also sought an enhanced role for India to bring peace and stability in Afghanistan.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi last week warned that the Trump administration's desire to inject New Delhi in the war-torn country would be "detrimental" as he rejected any role for India in Afghanistan.
With inputs from PTI
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