Obama admin seeks to "broaden and strengthen" ties with India

Lalit K Jha

Washington, Jun 6 (PTI) The Obama administration has said
it wants to "broaden and strengthen" bilateral ties with India
including in the fields of defence and economy, as it prepares
to send one of its top official to New Delhi next week.

"We want greater economic exchange with India. We want to
broaden the access for academic institutions, foreign academic
institutions in India. We want to improve our defense
relationship with India," said Patrick Moon, Principal Deputy
Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia.

Observing that the relationship between the two countries
has made great strides in the past one decade, Moon said that
the new government in New Delhi led by Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh gives brighter indication in this regard.

"We are seeking to broaden and strengthen our bilateral
relationship. We have certainly made great strides with India,
as it has opened up to the rest of the world and particularly
to the West, and the new government gives every prospect of
strengthening that trend," he said.

America's Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs
William Burns is scheduled to visit India next week for talks
in New Delhi and Mumbai.

"He (Burns) will be following up on the very successful
elections there. The largest democracy in the world conducted
a very smooth election, very little violence, and returned the
Congress party to power," Moon said.

Moon and four other senior State Department officials
Friday met foreign correspondents to brief them about the
reaction of people worldwide on address to Muslim world by
President Barack Obama from Cairo on Thursday.

"While the Muslim population is a minority population, it
is a very important part of the Indian political spectrum, and
we will be working with all parts of the Indian political
spectrum in strengthening this relationship," he said.

South Asia having a billion Muslim citizens, Moon said,
the reactions have been very positively so far. "Many viewers
in the area who saw the speech appreciated Obama's desire for
engagement and dialogue between the US and the Muslim world."

Moon said a senior Indian official in a meeting with
Charge d'affairs praised Obama's speech from Cairo.

"The speech was carried on several channels in India,
very widely. The American press center programme was packed
with journalists and academics, and featured a post-speech
panel and audience interaction, which was upbeat and
appreciative," he said. PTI LKJ
AM
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