WASHINGTON DC: The United States said Wednesday that top cabinet members will visit India in coming weeks to break the ice with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was once shunned by Washington.
Secretary of State John Kerry will visit on July 31 and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will travel to India in early August, culminating in Modi's previously announced visit to Washington in September, officials told a Senate committee.
"We are confident we can work in a strong and collaborative partnership with the Modi government to grow our economic and strategic relations with India," said Nisha Biswal, the assistant secretary of state for South Asia.
Modi was once persona non grata in the United States due to allegations that he turned a blind eye to anti-Muslim riots that swept Gujarat in 2002 when he was leader of the western state. He has denied wrongdoing.
The United States has rushed to make up for lost time since it became clear that Modi would cruise to victory in elections held in April and May. His Hindu nationalist swept to India's biggest electoral mandate in three decades.
Kerry will take part in annual US-India strategic talks, while Pentagon official Amy Searight said that Hagel would seek greater military trade and cooperation with the Modi government.
Modi has largely shown himself to be a pragmatist on foreign policy. He has already met with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Chinese President Xi Jinping, despite his suspicions about the neighboring countries voiced before his election.
Modi did not reveal any lingering bitterness over his treatment by the United States when accepting President Barack Obama's invitation to the White House, calling in a statement for stronger US-India relations.
But Searight - responding to questions from Senator John McCain, who met Modi earlier this month and is a frequent critic of Obama - acknowledged that India has voiced concern about Afghanistan where the United States is preparing to withdraw troops.
The US outreach to Modi's government has not started completely smoothly. India earlier this month summoned Washington's top diplomat in New Delhi after leaks by former government contractor Edward Snowden showed that US intelligence spied on Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party while in opposition.
During the election season, India was infuriated after US authorities arrested an Indian diplomat in New York on charges of mistreating her servant.
Biswal assured senators that US officials have spent "many, many hours" working with India to prevent similar friction in the future.
The United States is working to make sure "that we have more clear and transparent communication to ensure we anticipate problems before they happen and that we clearly communicate and resolve them," she said.
Former US presidents Bill Clinton and George W Bush moved to build US relations with India after estrangement during the Cold War, describing the world's largest democracy as a natural ally.
Obama has also supported warm ties with India and voiced an affinity for Modi's predecessor, the soft-spoken economist Manmohan Singh.
But Frank Wisner, a US ambassador to New Delhi under Clinton, said that Obama's relationship with India "took on the tone of a transactional undertaking" due in part to doubts about the Singh government's ability to follow through on trade deals.
Wisner said that India in turn had trouble understanding its role in Obama's worldview - especially his treatment of China's rise.
"We are wise to assume that the prime minister and his party may be in office for the next 10 years. It is a good time to define our political and security relationship," Wisner said.
COMMENTS (15)
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ET mods- if you allow several off-topic postby @Stealth, you should allow a factual rebuttal. (2nd attempt).
@Stealth: First of all bringing up toilets everytime there is any positive news item about India is absurd. While Indians on this board are often accused of trolling even when their comments are on topic and polite, somehow this type of blatanat trolling is accepted.
In any case in India even the PM has acknowledged that this is a problem and there are plans to address this. But the problem is almost as bad in Pakistan and no one really talks aout it or tries to address it. Not to mention the many areas where social indicators for Pakistan are much worse than India including lteracy, infant mortality, access to sklled birth attendant, access to family planning for women and so on. India acknowledges is prolems and works on it. Should you as a Pakistani citizen not focus on pressuring your elected governments to do the same?
@2019 ake bad: @ Stealth
Pakistanis are not just worried and resentful; they suffer from choleric envy disorder coupled with an inferiority complex. They don't realize that their country has nothing to offer and that there is no such thing as free lunch. People will start courting you if you had something to offer -- nobody wants to visit (including cricketers, actors, etc.) if they find the country has become a haven for terrorists who are running free and do all the destruction they can in the name of religion. Indeed, many experts fear that the country is sliding into the abyss and might fragment into several states in the decade ahead. But we would still like to wish the common people well for their future.
@ModiFied: Acknowledged! The factors which you deliberated can justify the no toilet phenomena in the rural areas. Can you give the same reasons for the lack of these facilities in urban slums, be it in Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, so on and so forth.
Over 200 of the city's 1,435 slums have no toilet facilities on their premises, a survey by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has found. An estimated 10 lakh or more live in these slums and defecate in the open. The first thing which paves the way for finding a solution is to accept the problem. Then solutions can be found and challenges can be turned into opportunities. Actually my first comment was in lighter vain, a wry sense of humor in sarcastic way.
http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/200-city-slums-10-lakh-people-not-one-toilet/537787/
@Stealth: In China also it is same, so is in subcontinent, so is in Africa. India is a poor and developing country so why do you expect it to be any different from others?
@Stealth: Dear Friend, pl permit me to educate you on this whole toilet issue. Issue of toilets in rural India was more of a cultural issue and has nothing to do with affordability. I belong to the generation when having a toilet in house was considered "napak". Moreover, all villages had enough open agriculture fields on all siders and people preferred to defecate in open fresh air rather than in a closed small room. Even well to do families were against toilets in the house. I have worked in big cities and now live in USA. Trust me, whenever I visit my village, I still prefer going to my sugarcane fields for that. Now almost all houses in my village have toilets. Walking about a km in the morning, barefoot on dew laden grass was considered good for health. So most people did that and went to fields for defecation. Don't think that everything modern is good. I still consider that toilets in every rural home without proper Sewage lines, is not a very health thing. There is not enough water to treat the excreta. Going to agriculture fields is more healthy and environment friendly. Significant purified water in cities all over the world is wasted in disposing the human excreta. Do you think we can carry on this waster for ever ? In my view the days of conventional toilets are running out. We will have to think of more innovative and affordable toilets.
@2019 ake bad: The figure actually is 53% of Indians, sorry for the error. The figure comes out to be around 650 million people, taking in account the Indian population which is 1.24 billion.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/53-Indian-households-defecate-in-open-World-Bank-says-on-World-Toilet-Day/articleshow/26032829.cms
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/politics/narendra-modi-government-list-of-portfolios-and-ministers/
Whatever may be the case India will partner with US on various range of issues.India have no enmity with US but yes some difference over some issues remains but that can be resolved through bilateral negotiations or through multilateral organizations like WTO but this relationship must go forward and i think everybody in India agrees with it.As far as New BRICS Bank "NDB" and Reserve Fund "CRA" is concerned that is a whole different issue and despite these new international institutions ties with US and Europe will go forward.PM Modi has already said cooperation with all including friends and foes.
@Stealth 70% of them? Really? Can you provide a authentic source for your claim? It looks like Pakistanis are a very frustrated lot always worrying about only loos in India. Either way we are moving ahead however slow it may be, on the other hand you are fighting and bombing your people. With so many complex problems of caste, loos and even malnourishment, India is moving forward and it is recognized by the world.
Yesterday our Prime minister along with BRICS agreed to set up Bank rival to World bank and IMF, each country contributing $10 billion equally and India will be heading for the first 5 years. So you should be worrying whether your next begging stop is at this bank instead of IMF.
Well, he has already been given clean chit.
Modi did not reveal any lingering bitterness over his treatment by the United States - Modi is elected to serve India not to indulge in personal vendetta.
“We are confident we can work in a strong and collaborative partnership with the Modi government to grow our economic and strategic relations with India,” said Nisha Biswal, the assistant secretary of state for South Asia. Modi should also woo United States to build some more loo's in India. The discrepancy is now too startling, 70 percent of them.
sad day for muslims.