US identifies India as partner in addressing global challenges

Lalit K Jha

Washington, Jul 16 (PTI) The US has identified India as a
major emerging global power along with Russia, China and
Turkey, with whom it wants to build a partnership to address
the global challenges like climate change, terrorism,
recession and non-proliferation.

"We will put special emphasis on encouraging major and
emerging global powers: China, India, Russia and Brazil, as
well as Turkey, Indonesia and South Africa to be full partners
in tackling the global agenda," Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton said on Wednesday.

"I want to underscore the importance of this task and my
personal commitment to it. These States are vital to achieving
solutions to the shared problems and advancing our priorities,
non-proliferation, counter-terrorism, economic growth, climate
change among others," she said.

"With these states, we will stand firm on our principles
even as we seek common ground," Clinton said in a major
foreign policy speech at the Council on Foreign Affairs, a
Washington-based think-tank, on the eve of her trip to India
and Thailand.

During her travel to India this week, Clinton said she
and her Indian counterpart S M Krishna will lay out a
broad-based agenda that calls for a whole of government
approach to the bilateral relationship.

Later this month, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner would
join her to lead the US new strategic and economic dialogue
with China. "It will cover not just economic issues but the
range of strategic challenges we face together," she said.

In the fall, she would travel to Russia to advance the
bi-national presidential commission that she and her Russian
counterpart will co-chair.

"The fact of these and other meetings does not guarantee
results but they set in motion processes and relationships
that will widen our avenues of cooperation and narrow the
areas of disagreement without allusion. We know that progress
will not likely come quickly or without bumps in the road, but
we are determined to begin and stay on this path," Clinton
said.

Observing that America's global and regional institutions
were built for a world that has been transformed, she argued
they too must be transformed and reformed.

"As the president said following the recent G-8 meeting
in Italy, we are seeking institutions that combine the
efficiency and capacity for action with inclusiveness from the
UN to the World Bank, from the IMF to the G-8 and the G-20,
from the AOS and the Summit of the Americas to ASEAN and APEC,
all of these and other institutions have a role to play.

"But their continued vitality and relevance depend on
their legitimacy and representativeness and the ability of
their members to act swiftly and responsibly when problems
arise," Clinton said. PTI LKJ
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