India not to prejudge outcome of Obama visit

PTI

New Delhi, 04 November 2010: India on Thursday said it will not make any “hasty decisions” on the outcome of discussions with U.S. President Barack Obama on “complex” issues like outsourcing, United Nations Security Council seat and withdrawal of U.S. ban on export of dual-use technology.

 

Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said it would be wrong to prejudge the U.S. leader’s discussions with the Indian leadership. There has been a good “working progress” on the elimination of obstacles created by dual-use controls of the U.S. as governments of both countries were of the view that the issue need to be reviewed in order to reduce and “ultimately eliminate” it, Ms. Rao said.

 

She also disclosed that India has invited U.S. companies to explain to them the provisions of its domestic civil nuclear liability law and address their concerns, if any, and also begin discussions on the next steps of implementation of civil nuclear power projects. “A commercial delegation from the U.S. is likely to visit India very shortly in this connection,” Ms.Rao said.

 

Briefing the reporters about the high-profile visit, she said the Prime Minister looks forward to continuing his extremely productive dialogue with President Obama on a range of issues, including the global economic situation, the threat of terrorism, the challenges in India’s neighbourhood, and the shared goals of sustained security, stability and prosperity in Asia.

 

“The US Administration under President Obama has expressed its commitment to strengthen Indo-U.S. bilateral relations further, building upon the existing level of cooperation in various areas of bilateral and global engagement,” she said. During his stay, Mr. Obama will also address a meeting of Members of Parliament on November 8, the Lok Sabha bulletin said.

 

Other issues on the agenda will include convergent interests of both India and the U.S. in Afghanistan and challenges emanating from Pakistan, and the shared goal of sustained security and stability and prosperity in Asia.

 

India also intends to expand and intensify the strategic consultations on regional and global issues, she said adding that a possibility of increased cooperation in the areas of space technology, clean energy and non- proliferation and high-technology will also be explored.