Manmohan Singh to meet Obama today in Washington

Washington: Amid the terror strikes in in Jammu, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President Barack Obama on Friday.

Indian Ambassador to the US Nirupama Rao on Friday said that India will articulate its concerns over continued cross-border terrorism, particularly since LeT is now a part of global terror network and endangers more than one country.

“We haven’t let this matter go off the radar… This issue concerning Lashkar-e-Taiba and activities of Hafiz Saeed are very much on the agenda of discussions that we have with the US at every given opportunity,” she said in her pre-meeting briefing to reporters.

The former Foreign Secretary said that she believed the US is aware of the “depth” of India’s concerns. “The fact is that LeT is not confined in its activities to the sub-continent. They have become virtually global terrorist group combine now and their activities are felt and endanger security in more than one country. I think the US is aware of that and is concerned,” she said.

To a question about Obama going to host Nawaz Sharif later this month, Rao said that there was no need for unnecessary concern over it as the US has its own relations with Pakistan and its democratically-elected Prime Minister. “India’s relations with the US stand on its own,” she said.

Singh and Obama will discuss, among various things, cooperation in the field of homeland security, maritime security, defence cooperation and situation in Afghanistan and other parts of the region.

The Ambassador said, “India has sought to address US’ concerns in a candid manner, open and transparent manner. We would like US to understand the development challenges that India faces, the situation in which we live in terms of the environment around us.”

Earlier on his arrival, the Prime Minister said that the US is one of the most important strategic partners of India. “And during President Obama’s regime, we have taken several steps to widen and deepen this partnership in diverse fields,” he said.

The Obama-Singh meeting would not only review the progress made in the relationship but also set the pace and scope of the ties between the two largest democracies of the world and help accelerate the momentum of the co-operation, Rao said.

With regard to the proposed changes in the non-immigrant visa rules that would affect H1B visas, Nirupama Rao said that though the issue is “still work in progress”, the Indian side has voiced concern with US lawmakers.

When referred to the civil nuclear deal, she denied that it had been put in the “cold storage” and mentioned that the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and US firm Westinghouse were close to “fruition” and “closure”.

She said that negotiations on such issues are bound to take time as these are “painstaking” but expressed confidence that the outcome will be good. “The progress is slow but going on,” she said.

Noting that it was an early works pact, she asserted that there was no question of the Nuclear Liability Act being contravened or “going beyond the four corners of the law”. Asked whether bureaucratic hurdles were holding up progress on civil nuclear deal, she gave a diplomatic reply, saying bureaucrats have their own way of working but there is “a political will” and the matter is headed in the right direction.

On Afghanistan, Rao pointed out that India has a trilateral dialogue involving US on the issue as they share concern over the situation in the country and India would like to see Afghanistan free of terrorism and secure.

She said that next year will be crucial as there will be drawdown of US-led forces. “But the calendar does not end in 2014. There will be 2015, 2016 and beyond. We have to see what happens,” she said.

Asked about differences between India and the US on Iran and Syria, the Ambassador said, “Friends do not need to agree on everything”.

She reiterated India’s position on Iran, saying Tehran has the right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy. However, the questions that have been raised over its nuclear programme by the international community, need to be “fully explained”, she said.

These problems need to be solved through dialogue, she added.

On Syria, she said that India had maintained its opposition to the use of chemical weapons and was in agreement for their eradication.