Dear Friends:
Perhaps the most important
development emerging from Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's
visit to Washington to meet with President George Bush on November
9, 2001 is the agreement to give a significant new dimension to
their bilateral ties by affirming their commitment to complete the
process of qualitatively transforming U.S.-India relations in pursuit
of their many common goals in Asia and beyond. "The Washington
Declaration" is going to have far reaching implications for
the United States and for India. America and India are now firmly
set on the road to a strong fraternal, cooperative and impregnable
relationship.
For a summary, as well as the
full text of the Washington Declaration, see below.
God bless America and India,
Ram Narayanan
THE WASHINGTON DECLARATION: INDO-US JOINT STATEMENT ISSUED AT THE
END OF PRIME MINISTER ATAL BEHARI VAJPAYEE'S MEETING WITH PRESIDENT
GEORGE BUSH
India and the US on Friday
gave a significant new dimension to their bilateral ties by affirming
their commitment to complete the process of qualitatively transforming
U.S.-India relations in pursuit of their many common goals in Asia
and beyond.
They also agreed to expand
the Bilateral Economic Dialogue and to broaden dialogue and cooperation
in the areas of energy, the environment, health, space, export controls,
science and technology, including biotechnology and information
technology. They agreed that the two sides should discuss ways to
stimulate bilateral high technology commerce. They also agreed that
we should begin a dialogue between the two governments with a view
towards evaluating the processes by which we transfer dual-use and
military items, with a view towards greater transparency and efficiency.
In addition, the United States and India have a mutual interest
in space and have agreed to initiate discussions on civil space
cooperation.
The two leaders expressed confidence
that enhancing their cooperation in all these areas will go far
towards building a long-term partnership between the United States
and India that will greatly benefit citizens of both their nations.
These declarations were contained in the Indo-US joint statement
issued at the end of the first summit meeting between Prime Minister
Atal Bihari Vajpayee and President George W Bush in Washington on
November 9, 2001.
TEXT OF INDO-US JOINT STATEMENT
Since September 11, the people
of the United States and India have been united as never before
in the fight against terrorism. In doing so, they have together
reaffirmed the enduring ties between both nations, and the importance
of further transforming the US-India relationship. In their meeting,
President Bush and Prime Minister Vajpayee discussed ways to accelerate
progress towards these goals.
They noted that both countries
are targets of terrorism, as seen in the barbaric attacks on September
11 in the United States and on October 1 in Kashmir. They agreed
that terrorism threatens not only the security of the United States
and India, but also our efforts to build freedom, democracy and
international security and stability around the world. As leaders
of the two largest multi-cultural democracies, they emphasized that
those who equate terrorism with any religion are as wrong as those
who invoke religion to commit, support or justify terrorist acts.
The two leaders remembered
the victims of the many nationalities in the terrorist attacks on
September 11 and agreed that all appropriate steps should be taken
to bring the perpetrators to justice, while protecting the lives
and welfare of the people affected by these efforts. They noted
that both countries are providing humanitarian assistance to the
people of Afghanistan.
They affirmed the current campaign against the Al-Qaida network
and the Taliban in Afghanistan is an important step in a global
war against terrorism and its sponsors everywhere in the world.
They recognized that the international community will have to wage
a long and multi-faceted struggle against terrorism, with patience,
determination and unwavering focus. They emphasized that there is
only one choice and only one outcome: terrorism must be fought and
it shall be defeated.
President Bush and Prime Minister
Vajpayee agreed that success in this endeavor would depend heavily
on building international cooperation and securing the unambiguous
commitment of all nations to share information and intelligence
on terrorists and deny them support, sustenance and safe havens.
The two leaders agreed to consult regularly on the future of Afghanistan.
They welcomed the measures outlined in the UNSCR 1373 and called
on all nations to ratify and implement existing UN Conventions on
counter-terrorism. They expressed support for India's draft Comprehensive
Convention on International Terrorism and urged the resolution of
outstanding issues to enable its adoption by the UNGA.
The leaders of the two countries
expressed satisfaction with the progress made in India-U.S. cooperation
on counter-terrorism, including the Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism
established in January 2000. They reaffirmed their personal commitment,
and that of their two countries, to intensify bilateral cooperation
as a critical element in the global effort against terrorism. They
also announced the establishment of a Joint Cyber-Terrorism Initiative.
Prime Minister Vajpayee and President Bush agreed that developments
in Afghanistan have a direct impact on its entire neighborhood.
They emphasized that the Taliban and the Al-Qaida network have turned
Afghanistan into a center of terrorism, extremism, and drug trafficking
and have brought immense suffering to the Afghan people. They agreed
that a peaceful, progressive, and prosperous Afghanistan requires
a broad-based government, representing all ethnic and religious
groups, friendly with all countries in the neighborhood a!
nd beyond, as well as sizeable and sustained international assistance
for Afghanistan's economic reconstruction and development. The two
leaders committed themselves to work together, and in partnership
with other countries and international organizations, to achieve
these goals.
President Bush and Prime Minister
Vajpayee also affirmed their commitment to complete the process
of qualitatively transforming U.S.-India relations in pursuit of
their many common goals in Asia and beyond. They agreed that U.S.-India
relations draw strength from the broad political support that exists
in both democracies. They expressed satisfaction at the high level
of engagement and progress in bilateral cooperation over the last
ten months. In particular, they reiterated their support for the
wide-ranging bilateral dialogue architecture established in March
2000. The two leaders agreed that recent lifting of economic, military
and technology restrictions on India provides a further impetus
to bilateral relations. They welcomed the resumption of the bilateral
Defense Policy Group as a step towards increasing exchanges and
technical cooperation in the defense and security areas. They noted
that India's interest in purchasing arms from the United States
would be discussed at !
the Defense Policy Group meetings in December 2001. The two leaders
agreed to pursue policies to enhance the mutually beneficial --
and growing -- economic and commercial ties between their nations.
They also agreed to expand the Bilateral Economic Dialogue and to
broaden dialogue and cooperation in the areas of energy, the environment,
health, space, export controls, science and technology, including
biotechnology and information technology. They agreed that the two
sides should discuss ways to stimulate bilateral high technology
commerce. They also agreed that we should begin a dialogue between
the two governments with a view towards evaluating the processes
by which we transfer dual-use and military items, with a view towards
greater transparency and efficiency. In addition, the United States
and India have a mutual interest in space and have agreed to initiate
discussions on civil space cooperation.
The two leaders expressed confidence
that enhancing their cooperation in all these areas will go far
towards building a long-term partnership between the United States
and India that will greatly benefit citizens of both their nations.
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