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Next stop Washington, for Menon

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon will fly to Washington directly from Vienna to prepare for high-level visits planned next month, said sources here.

On the immediate agenda is India’s concern over certain restrictive clauses in the U.S.-sponsored draft before the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG). But the visit will also see Mr. Menon touching on the multi-sectoral agenda being worked out before the visits of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Defence Minister A.K. Antony.

In October, Dr. Singh is expected to go to Tokyo, a key U.S. partner in East Asia, and with whom a multi-sectoral dialogue like the one with the U.S. is in progress.

Of immediate interest to India is the opening of high technology trade in several areas including space and defence. The Ministry of External Affairs sees high technology alliances as the key to a more intense Indo-U.S. relationship.

There is need to simplify the licensing system which could be achieved by the under-discussion validated inducer systems so that more cooperation can take place in defence, nanotechnology, biotechnology and information technology.

Both sides are also eager to step up the energy dialogue and attempt to bridge different perceptions of clean energy as also give an impetus to the agriculture knowledge initiative.

Mr. Menon will also be sharing India’s perceptions of the situation in the region including the politically unsettled conditions in Pakistan, increased violence in Afghanistan, the Sri Lankan military’s continuing offensive against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eeelam and government formation in Nepal.

In the area of defence, the U.S. has given indications of expecting something tangible during Mr. Antony’s visit. His U.S. counterpart, Robert Gates, had put several proposals on the table during his trip to the country early this year but Mr. Antony said India wanted to study them in depth before getting back to Washington. The proposals include a Communication and Information Security Memorandum of Agreement, Logistics Sharing Agreement and an End Users Agreement.

India is hoping for U.S. assistance in developing a robust network centric operations system for its armed forces which would include high end technologies in electro-optics, optronics, encryption and sensors.

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