Indo-US ties on fast track: Blackwill

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>[bJP News]: Indo-US ties on fast track: Blackwill

>Wed, 26 Sep 2001 09:38:59 -0400

>

>Title: Indo-US ties on fast track: Blackwill

>Author: Ramesh Menon

>Publication: Rediff

>Sept. 26, 2001

>

> United States Ambassador to India Robert D

> Blackwill says that relations between India and the

> US have been transformed, in practical ways, at a

> pace far faster than both countries had imagined.

>

> In informal interaction with a small gathering of

> mediapersons, Blackwill said that the real change

> after the terrorist strikes of September 11 was in the

>frequency, intensity

> and transparency with which both the countries shared

>intelligence and

> cooperated with each other.

>

> Both the US and India were trying to pool intelligence

>in a time-sensitive

> fashion to combat terrorism, and had now begun to work

>together in ways

> previously unimaginable, the ambassador said.

>

> Blackwill argued that though there was an opportunity

>for India and the

> US to redefine relationships after the Cold War ended,

>neither country

> had seized the chance, perhaps because of the Cold War's

>overhang.

>

> In the new era however, Blackwill suggested, democratic

>values would be

> the foundation of the international system. And against

>that background,

> India and US could differ in terms of strategy and

>tactics, but never in

> terms of the overall objective, Blackwill said.

>

> Blackwill said that Washington was determined to treat

>South Asia in a

> non-hyphenated way. “We are treating the US-India

>relationship as

> separate from any other relationship. It is not

>connected to the events

> happening in Pakistan, or with what is now happening

>between India and

> Pakistan,” he averred.

>

> “We have established a degree of unprecedented

>cooperation with India

> in our fight against terrorism. We have also got an

>assurance from Pakistan

> to join in this fight, and we are gratified that

>Pakistan has joined the fight,”

> he said.

>

> Asked whether the US equated terrorism in Kashmir with

>what had

> happened in New York and with global terrorism,

>Blackwill said there

> was no such thing as good terrorists and bad terrorists.

>All attacks,

> anywhere, on innocent people had to be fought, he said,

>adding, “The

> extraordinary coalition that is forming now to fight

>terrorism is a proof of

> that. It is not a problem that can be stamped out in a

>piecemeal way,

> terrorism has to be addressed everywhere.”

>

> To a question whether terrorist organisations now

>operating in Kashmir

> would be included in Washington's hit list, Blackwill

>said that the list

> released by the US Administration this Tuesday was not a

>final one, and

> would evolve.

>

> Referring to the lifting of sanctions, Blackwill said

>that in this he saw the

> possibility of cooperation not merely in the military

>realm, but also in areas

> like education and good governance. "There is room for

>an intense, and

> deeper, relationship evolving," Blackwill felt.

>

> Asked whether the Bush Administration now holding hands

>with Pakistan

> did not contradict the US stand on democracy, Blackwill

>said that his

> country's stance as regards Pakistan's early return to

>democracy remained

> unchanged.

>

> However, the ambassador said, Pakistan President General

>Pervez

> Musharraf was taking care of stability in Pakistan at

>this point in time, and

> the US has been encouraged by what he has said and done

>recently.

>

> Referring to the prevailing angst in Indian government

>circles that the US

> had not approached India for help in its war against

>terrorism, Blackwill

> said the US was still in the process of thinking through

>the new war. "The

> key objective now is to end the terrorism network in

>Afghanistan and end

> the export of terrorism from Afghanistan," he said.

>Thus, the US is for now

> concentrating on this phase, but there will be dozens of

>new phases to a

> war that is likely to go on for years, there will be

>thousands of actions

> across the world, he pointed out.

>

> “There is very intense intelligence cooperation now

>between Moscow and

> Washington, and no one could have thought of it a couple

>of months ago,"

> Blackwill argued. "We are building paradigms of

>collaborative behavior

> that will have far wider applications in the future. The

>India-US

> relationship will now emerge to meet international

>challenges, as both the

> countries are committed to fight terrorism,” he said.

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