Hillary Clinton: India Inc trade within five pillars

by Nksagar | July 18, 2009 at 08:13 pm

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Clinton: India Inc trade within five pillars
2009-07-19 05:59:06 - US secretary of state Hillary Clinton with no branding on South Asian policy from the US government which has been put on halt due to Myanmar and North Korea rethinking to put a concrete and on going war situation in Iraq and Afghanistan, US on next agenda for Iran to have nuclear policyin line with global policy.Ino-US will have new friendly relation to seek social and economical for upgrading business and trade between the two countries which is need of the hour plus in their strategic partnership and deepen their engagement.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.Hillary Clinton enter in discussions at India Inc meet 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.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has asked Pakistan to dismantle all terrorist outfits including Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jamaat-ud-Dawa. She said in Mumbai that it is too early to talk about the outcome of Islamabad's campaign against the terrorists despite the commitment shown by Islamabad in the last six months to deal with the menace. She was talking to reporters in Mumbai after paying tribute to the victims of 26/11 attacks at Taj Hotel.

On New Delhi's position against terrorism, Clinton said that the US is not in any way involved in promoting any particular position, but maintained that her country is very supportive of all efforts in the fight against terrorism.
Insisting that the US had no role to play in resumption of dialogue between India and Pakistan, Clinton said all decisions on the issue have been taken by the governments of the two countries. She evaded a direct reply to a question whether the US would persuade Pakistan to hand over fugitives to India.
She said that the US is working hard on a number of agreements on education, science, technology, pharma, climate change, healthcare and said that her country is eager to work on issues like providing macro nutrients to infants and enhancing the production of life saving drugs.
Hillary Clinton, who is on a five day visit to India, will be addressing a conclave on climate change in the outskirts of Delhi at Gurgaon today after arriving from Mumbai. Later in the evening, Clinton will address a function at Indian Agricultural Research Institute at Pusa.
The AIR correspondent reports that the US Secretary of State has a busy schedule tomorrow. She will call on Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in the morning and will hold discussions with her Indian counterpart Mr. S.M. Krishna. Several agreements are to be signed after the meeting. She will also exchange views with the UPA chairperson Mrs. Sonia Gandhi and the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Mr. L K Adavani.
Addressing a gathering of artisans in Mumbai organised by the NGO SEWA, Mrs Clinton emphasized the role of women for successful, inclusive and sustainable economic progress of the world. She said that the world cannot progress if women are left behind in the development as they are key to economic progress and social stability.

She said that technical education in India is the best in the world. She said the US and India need to work together in the field to help bridge the gap between talent and opportunities. Actor-filmmaker Aamir Khan also shared the dais with the US Secretary of State.

Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake said on July 15 that in India the secretary hopes to “broaden and strengthen the strategic partnership” between the United States and India,as well as highlight ongoing cooperation between Indians and Americans outside of government, in areas such as business, science and academia. Secretary Clinton and her Indian counterpart, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, may be in a position to announce an agreement that allows U.S. companies to sell two nuclear reactors to India.

On July 20, Clinton and Krishna will announce “the elements of our new partnership,” Blake said. “Broadly speaking, what we’re going to do is continue the successful cooperation we’ve had on things like defense cooperation, counterterrorism, trade, while also forging new initiatives on things like agriculture, education, science and technology, and women’s empowerment.”

The civil nuclear agreement between the two countries remains “very much on track,” Blake said. In either July or August, India and the United States will likely begin talks on reprocessing uranium after India has filed a declaration of its safeguarded nuclear facilities with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

On climate change, the assistant secretary said both countries have been consulting on the United Nations climate change meeting scheduled for Copenhagen, Denmark, in December. The Indians have a chance to leapfrog older technologies and “adopt a clean-energy, low-carbon future,” Blake said.

Secretary Clinton will head the U.S. delegation to ASEAN’s regional forum in Phuket, Thailand, after meeting with Thai officials in Bangkok. U.S. Ambassador for ASEAN Affairs Scot Marciel said that along with regional concerns over North Korea’s nuclear and missile activity, the forum will also provide an opportunity to discuss climate change, pandemic flu, and political repression in Burma.Thai Foreign Ministry, official Virasakdi Futrakul,chaired a working dinner on Saturday of ASEAN senior officials,told media that the officials discussed the plan during the meeting. Virasakdi said the plan will get approval from ASEAN foreign ministers who are scheduled to officially begin series of annual meetings on Monday on the southern Thai resort island of Phuket.

ASEAN foreign ministers schedule to begin series of annual meetings on Monday on the southern Thai resort island of Phuket.Indonesian Foreign Ministry Secretary General Imron Cotan said, "We have agreed to propose to our foreign ministers to issue a statement basically portraying that ASEAN countries are united to confront this act of terrorism." According to Virasakdi, the statement will say, "We condemn the act of terrorism that cause loss of innocent lives and urge the authorities to bring the culprits to justice." "We express the solidarity in supporting the Indonesian government and that ASEAN will remain steadfast in countering acts of terrorism in all manifestations," he added.

ASEAN officials were shocked by the tragic explosions which occurred at the tightly secured hotels, according to Virasakdi.Thailand has reinforced security in Phuket, which hosts some 1,000 delegates from the 10 ASEAN countries and 16 other countries for the annual meetings.More than 10,000 forces have been deployed after Thailand enacted an internal security act to quell antigovernment demonstrators.

Prohibitory act orders no demonstrations in the neighborhood of the meeting venue, covering six sub-districts of Thalang and the Kathu district of Phuket.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made no mention of Burma in her foreign policy speech in Washington this week, but she renewed the US offer to talk with the Iranian regime but the offer and opportunity would not remain indefinitely, she warned.Clinton is on her way to Asia this is her second trip to attend the 42th Asean Ministerial Meeting in Phuket. Whether she wants it or not, the Burma and North Korea issues will likely dominate the meeting. Clinton, who said she was deeply troubled by the decision by the Burmese regime to charge Suu Kyi with a baseless crime, is not unprepared to speak on the Burma issue, but a US policy review on Burma that began in February is still pending.US State Department officials said they expected the showdown over North Korea over its nuclear and missile tests and political repression in Myanmar to be among the leading topics that Clinton will discuss when she arrives.During her first trip to Jakarta, Clinton said, “Clearly, the path we have taken in imposing sanctions hasn’t influenced the Burmese junta.” Then she added that the policy adopted by neighboring countries of “reaching out and trying to engage them has not influenced them, either.”The policy review on Burma is still pending, with the Obama administration wanting to take a different policy direction on Burma from the previous Bush administration. US new policy will probably be a mix of carrots and sticks, but recent events have complicated apparent indications favoring increased diplomacy and outreach from Washington towards Burma’s rulers.
Suu Kyi’s bizarre trial has played a role in the policy review other sensitive issues include the release of 2,100 political prisoners, the relationship with ethnic groups along the Burmese border with China and Thailand, and the upcoming election in 2010 then no doubt the issue of Burma’s shady relationship with North Korea will also play a part.

Though Washington’s policy review remains incomplete, the US is not without a policy and diplomatic tools. The Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Scot Marciel, assured that Clinton would bring up the issue of Burma during the meeting with Asean foreign ministers.“I don't want to try to predict exactly what Clinton going to say. I'm confident that she will raise Burma and express our concerns quite clearly,” Marciel said.

Secretary Clinton will head the U.S. delegation to ASEAN’s regional forum in Phuket, Thailand, after meeting with Thai officials in Bangkok. U.S. Ambassador for ASEAN Affairs Scot Marciel said that along with regional concerns over North Korea’s nuclear and missile activity, the forum will also provide an opportunity to discuss climate change, pandemic flu, and political repression in Burma.

Marciel said the Obama administration’s review of its Burma policy is ongoing, and has been slowed by the military government’s recent arrests of opposition activists and the trial of National League for Democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. But he said the U.S. policy of promoting progress in Burma remains unchanged.

“By progress, I mean the beginning of a dialogue between the government and the opposition and the ethnic minority groups, release of political prisoners and improved governance and, we would hope, more of an opening to the international community,” he said.

In Phuket, Clinton will also hold a four-way meeting with the foreign ministers of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia to discuss Mekong River issues such as health and the environment. “This will be the first time that a secretary of state’s done such a meeting,” Marciel said.

Foreign ministers from the other five parties the US, Russia, China, Japan and South Korea will all be in Phuket.

ASEAN's conspicuous member Myanmar since joining the bloc in 1997, showed its defiance earlier this month by refusing to allow UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to visit the opposition icon when he visited.ASEAN foreign ministers are further set to endorse a final version of the bloc's new human rights body, which has faced criticism for being unable to tackle persistent violators such as Myanmar.