Bush keen on early visit to India

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, JUNE 9. The President, Mr. George W. Bush, is keen on an early visit to India, and the United States wanted to build a long-term relationship with India that was not dependent on others, the visiting delegation of Confederation of Indian Industry was told by the Deputy Secretary of State, Mr. Richard Armitage.

The CII delegation, led by its president, Mr. Sanjiv Goenka, is on a visit to the United States where aside from meeting with senior officials of the Bush administration has been interacting with the business and the intellectual communities.

On Friday, the CII delegation met senior officials at the State Department that included the new Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, Ms. Christina Rocca. Mr. Armitage is said to have emphasised that India is a natural ally of the United States and there is a need to get away from a quid-pro-quo relationship.

The Bush administration which has now an ongoing review of the entire gamut of sanctions under domestic law has been giving positive signals with respect to India with senior officials making the point frequently that it was time to get over with the punitive measures. The Republican administration has once again stressed that it would work with Congress on the issue and has made the point that the punitive measures were a thing of the past.

Earlier this week at a Joint workshop involving the CII and the Brookings Institution here, Mr. Goenka argued that on the subject of economic reforms and liberalisation, the Government of India had shown resolve and determination to move on and in the process making the point that while there had been hiccups and difficulties, that happened in every country.

Business houses in the United States are watching with keen interest on what is taking place economically in India; and the common refrain has been that while no one has questioned the direction of liberalisation and reform process over the last decade the fundamental concern has been whether these have been deep and wide enough. And there have been persisting questions on the pace of the reform measures.

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Section  : International
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