India ‘Great and Emerging Global Power’: Crowley

With Indo-US Strategic Dialogue scheduled to be held next week, an Obama Administration official has described India as a ‘great and emerging global power’, saying that the talks will take the relationship between the two nations to a new level, said media reports.

“I think the strategic dialogue speaks for itself. India is a great and emerging global power. Our range of interests are significant in terms of the environment, in terms of regional security, in terms of counterterrorism, economic issues,” State Department spokesman P J Crowley was quoted as saying while talking to reporters.

For the talks from June 1 to 4, a high-power delegation comprising of many Cabinet Ministers and External Affairs Minister SM Krishna will be arriving in Washington in the next couple of days.

Though there’s no official announcement of the members of the Indian delegation, it may include Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal; Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia; Minister for Science and Technology Prithvitaj Chauhan; and Foreign Secretary, Nirupama Rao.

The US delegation will be lead by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who returned from her week-long tree-nation Asia trip from Japan, China and Seoul.

“We have very strong cultural ties to India, so we look forward to the strategic dialogue. It’s something that the Secretary and the President (of the US) felt important to elevate the level of our coordination and cooperation. So we look forward to the dialogue,” Crowley was quoted as saying while answering a question.

“I think our relations with India have never been stronger. We are talking about the relations between the largest and oldest democracies in the world. We have a great deal in common and we look forward to the meetings next week,” Crowley was quoted as saying.

(Based on internet reports)