Indo-US eco ties to hinge on five pillars, says Clinton

Mumbai, Jul 18 (PTI) India and the United States plan to
take their strategic and economic cooperation to a new high by
launching an important dialogue on what is called 'five
pillars" during the five-day visit of US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton.

"We see the dialogue that we are embarking upon as
extremely important and is based on the five pillars which are
areas of strategic importance, agriculture, healthcare,
science and technology and education," Clinton told reporters
Saturday after meeting top Indian businessmen, including Ratan
Tata and Mukesh Ambani.

The subjects of discussion ranged from climate change,
promotion of green energy and initiatives to strengthening of
bilateral trade ties.

To a question if export of petro-products by Reliance to
Iran figured on the agenda, Clinton said the issue was not
discussed. "That is something we will look at later."

Discussions with India Inc on climate change and clean
energy were "extremely productive" Clinton said, adding "the
point was made that there is no contradiction between poverty
elimination and moving on carbon emission".

She said the US and developed countries "have made
mistakes that have contributed significantly leading to the
problems that we face of climate change" and hoped that India
would not repeat those mistakes.

"We are hoping that a great country like India does not
make the same mistakes (that the US did)," Clinton said,
adding "we believe India is innovative enough to deal with
climate change" while simultaneously taking measures to
eliminate poverty.

Clinton also and highlighted the country's great
achievement in the telecom sector where it has leap-frogged
over technologies to reach the level it has today.

Both governments were seized of the challenge posed by
climate change problems and over the next few days,
discussions would be held not only at the governmental level
but also with the private sector on this issue, she said.

"There are creative approaches (to the climate change
problem) and we will share it," Clinton said.

Describing the power-breakfast with India's corporate
bigwigs as "exciting", she said among the issues discussed
were increasing agricultural production, providing micro-
nutrients to infants, the need for clean energy, working
together of Indian and US pharma companies and universities.

Apart from Ratan Tata and Mukesh Ambani, others who
interacted with Clinton included Jamshyd Godrej, Sudha Murthy,
Ashoke Ganguly, Chanda Kochhar, Swati Piramal, O P Bhatt, R K
Krishna Kumar and Amrita Patel.


In New Delhi, US officials would be interacting with
their Indian counterparts on issues ranging from economic
growth and development, climate change and education,
non-proliferation and counter-terrorism.

India and the US would jointly work on tackling global
hunger and move towards clean energy in the future, she said.

Climate change and clean energy are two important issues
that figure on Clinton's agenda. "Tomorrow, I will meet Indian
scientists and innovators on green energy," she said. PTI SUD
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