Admitting divergences with Washington over its approach towards Iran and the situation in West Asia, Indias National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon Wednesday called for scaling up the India-US partnership in key areas, including defence, energy and innovation.
Alluding to remarkable transformation of the India-US relations over the last decade, Menon stressed that the partnership has matured and underlined that both sides have found ways to manage these differences.
In West Asia, for example, we share the vision of a democratic, peaceful region but differ on ways to achieve that goal, he told strategic experts and diplomats at a Track-II dialogue on the India-US strategic partnership.
In an oblique critique of the US methods of imposing democracy in West Asia, Menon said some of these methods seemed to encourage extremism.
Likewise, Menon said Iran was a divisive issue.
We both want a negotiated resolution of the Iranian issue without the spread of nuclear weapons, but we differ on methods to achieve that goal, he said.
The dialogue was organised by the Brookings Institution, a US think tank, and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
Menon, however, stressed that the two sides should not allow these tactical differences to prevent them from working closely on a whole range of international issues.
To manage these differences of approach, Menon stressed that both should maintain the quality of communication and improve it, if necessary.
Conjuring a robustly optimistic picture of the India-US relations, Menon called for scaling up strategic dialogue between the two countries on international issues.
We should also move up security and defence relationship to a higher level. There is a lot of potential in energy and innovation, he said.
I am an optimist about this relationship, he said.
Strobe Talbott, president of the Brookings Institution and a former US deputy secretary of state, agreed with Menon about differences in approach, but stressed that this relationship is maturing in an entirely positive way.
He, however, cautioned that India and the US would be much closer to each other were it not for problematic issues like Iran and Syria.
Indias neighbourhood will become dangerous if the Iranian regime were to acquire nuclear weapons which in turn will encourage other nations to acquire these weapons, he warned.
Link: NSA calls for scaling up India-US ties in defence, energy | idrw.org
Alluding to remarkable transformation of the India-US relations over the last decade, Menon stressed that the partnership has matured and underlined that both sides have found ways to manage these differences.
In West Asia, for example, we share the vision of a democratic, peaceful region but differ on ways to achieve that goal, he told strategic experts and diplomats at a Track-II dialogue on the India-US strategic partnership.
In an oblique critique of the US methods of imposing democracy in West Asia, Menon said some of these methods seemed to encourage extremism.
Likewise, Menon said Iran was a divisive issue.
We both want a negotiated resolution of the Iranian issue without the spread of nuclear weapons, but we differ on methods to achieve that goal, he said.
The dialogue was organised by the Brookings Institution, a US think tank, and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
Menon, however, stressed that the two sides should not allow these tactical differences to prevent them from working closely on a whole range of international issues.
To manage these differences of approach, Menon stressed that both should maintain the quality of communication and improve it, if necessary.
Conjuring a robustly optimistic picture of the India-US relations, Menon called for scaling up strategic dialogue between the two countries on international issues.
We should also move up security and defence relationship to a higher level. There is a lot of potential in energy and innovation, he said.
I am an optimist about this relationship, he said.
Strobe Talbott, president of the Brookings Institution and a former US deputy secretary of state, agreed with Menon about differences in approach, but stressed that this relationship is maturing in an entirely positive way.
He, however, cautioned that India and the US would be much closer to each other were it not for problematic issues like Iran and Syria.
Indias neighbourhood will become dangerous if the Iranian regime were to acquire nuclear weapons which in turn will encourage other nations to acquire these weapons, he warned.
Link: NSA calls for scaling up India-US ties in defence, energy | idrw.org
