The IUFP Roundtable

IUFP Roundtable
May 12, 2006

The India-US Forum of Parliamentarians (IUFP) organized a roundtable on May 12, 2006 to deliberate on the present scenario of India-US relations. The roundtable was hosted by Mr. B.J. Panda, Member of Parliament and Chairman of the IUFP. Mr. Anand Sharma, Minister of State for External Affairs was present at the meeting. Prominent parliamentarians from the Indian political arena attending the roundtable were Mr. Shahid Siddiqui, Mr. Robert Kharshiing, Ms. Sangeeta Singh Deo, Mr. Deepender Singh Hooda and Mr. Kirti Vardhan Singh. Other important people participating were Mr. Sanjay Baru, Media Advisor to the Prime Minister of India; Dr. Amit Mitra, Secretary General, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI); and Mr. Ramesh Chandran, Executive Director, IUFP.

Making the keynote address, Mr. Panda referred to the present scenario as a state of de-hyphenation in Indo-US relations. He said that the end of the Cold War freed India-US relations from the constraints of global bipolarity, but interactions continued for a decade to be affected by the burden of history, most notably the longstanding India-Pakistan rivalry and nuclear weapons proliferation in the region. However, he pointed out that recent years had witnessed a sea change in bilateral relations, with more positive interactions becoming the norm. India's swift offer of full support for US-led counterterrorism operations after September 2001 was widely viewed as reflective of such change.

Mr. Sharma reiterated Mr. Panda's views and said that now, President Bush calls India a "natural partner" of the United States and his administration seeks to assist India's rise as a major power in the new century. He added that this dramatic improvement in bilateral relations had been brought about by a number of factors, the most crucial being India's rapid economic expansion. He further said that many US business interests viewed India as a lucrative market and candidate for foreign investment and that the US had throughout supported India's efforts to transform its once quasi-socialist economy through fiscal reform and market opening.

Highlighting the present bonhomie in bilateral ties, Mr. Siddiqui laid a lot of emphasis on security cooperation between the two nations, especially the joint US-India military exercises and arms sales negotiations. He also drew attention of the participants to the March 2005 unveiling of the Bush Administration's "new strategy for South Asia", which included assertions that the United States welcomed Indian requests for information on the possible purchase of F-16 or F/A-18 multi-role fighters, and indicated that Washington was "ready to discuss the sale of transformative systems in areas such as command and control, early warning, and missile defense."

Ms. Singh Deo threw light on the issues of human trafficking and violations of human rights in India, another area where the US had taken keen interest and expressed support throughout. She underscored the fact that India though being a vibrant democracy with strong constitutional human rights protection laws, has somehow failed to uphold the aforesaid laws due to poor enforcement, widespread corruption, lack of accountability, and the severely overburdened court system which has weakened the delivery of justice. She highly appreciated the generous support extended by the US in helping India overcome the problems of human rights abuses.

Dr. Mitra dwelled at length on the rapid economic rise of India, which had in a way contributed to the strengthening of Indo-US relations. He expressed his belief that the country's long-term economic potential was tremendous, and recent strides in the technology sector had brought international attention to such high-tech centers such as Bangalore and Hyderabad. He stated that though Indian regulatory and bureaucratic structures, the high cost of capital (rooted in large government budget deficits) and an "abysmal" infrastructure pose as serious hindrances to the realization of India's full economic potential, things were improving, which would eventually allow greater US investments in India.

Agreeing with Dr. Mitra's opinion, Mr. Singh said that once seen as favoring domestic business and diffident about foreign involvement, New Delhi now by all means appears to gradually be embracing globalization and has sought to reassure foreign investors with promises of transparent and nondiscriminatory policies. He informed that in February 2006, a top International Monetary Fund official had said that India's continued rapid economic growth will be facilitated only by enhanced Indian integration with the global economy through continued reforms and infrastructure improvements.

Mr. Kharshiing also spoke of India's growing trade investments in the US and the strides that India had made in the past one decade. He stressed that both the Indian and the US governments should seek to do away with the trade barriers which are proving to be major impediments in future India-US trade ties.

Mr. Baru stated that the India-US civilian nuclear deal would provide a new lease of life to India's growing energy needs and would go a long way in providing a solid foundation to the India-US strategic partnership. He expressed his very own concerns regarding the implementation of the deal but said that he was optimistic that the deal would finally be worked out, which would in fact as contrary to the views of the non-proliferation experts worldwide advance the objectives of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) by opening the door to India's participation in the global non-proliferation regime.

Mentioning the fact that during President Bush's March 2006 visit to India, the two countries committed to move forward with agreements that will permit the launch of US satellites and satellites containing US components by Indian space launch vehicles, and welcomed the inclusion of US instruments in a planned Indian lunar mission, Mr. Hooda called for closer bilateral ties in space exploration, satellite navigation and launch, and in the commercial space arena.

Mr. Panda concluded the session saying that India-US partnership covering global issues like disarmament, non-proliferation, and terrorism as well as bilateral issues, including civil nuclear cooperation, trade and investment, space, and science and technology, would definitely strengthen further in the years to come.