NEW DELHI, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's high-profile visit to the U.S. has netted a raft of agreements for closer relations in the future but differences remain on key issues.
Singh met U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday at the White House, with the two governments pledging to embrace an unprecedented strategic partnership.
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U.S. President Barack Obama (R) and Indian Prime Minister Manmoham Singh hold a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., capital of the U.S., Nov. 24, 2009. (Xinhua/Zhang Yan)
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The positive mood was backed by a series of memoranda of understanding covering global security and countering terrorism, a green partnership, economic trade and agriculture, education and health.
However, despite the much trumpeted "strategic partnership," divergences remain between the two countries, especially in the fields of nuclear energy, security, anti-terrorism, and environmental protection.
STRENGTHENING PARTNERSHIP
In recent years, the two countries have deepened cooperation in the fields of the economy, technology and education, and increased political and military collaboration, reflecting their view of each other as strategically important.
The United States attaches great importance to India as a market and its supply of technological talent, believing the development of India will help pull it out of the quagmire of economic recession.
On the other hand, India hopes the United States will expand investment in infrastructure and agricultural technology, and looks forward to expanding its export to the U.S.
In July, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited India, during which the two sides signed the End Use Monitoring Agreement(EUMA), which provides for verification of military and chronology equipment acquired by India from the United States, and will pave the way for Indian procurement of U.S. defense technology and equipment.
The Obama administration has since agreed to sell India two of its latest "futuristic" shipboard Hawkeye E-2D aircraft for Airborne Early Warning and battle management.
In October, the two countries held a joint military exercise in India.
Under such circumstances, Singh's visit could be easily interpreted as an effort to further boost the all-round cooperation between the two countries in the fields of politics, the economy and security, as well as the deepening of bilateral ties.
More specifically, New Delhi hopes to reach concrete agreements with Washington on their nuclear cooperation deal, strengthen their cooperation in the fields of anti-terrorism and security in South Asia, and have Washington recognize its status in Asia and the world, while seeking to reach an understanding with Washington on issues regarding climate change.
DIVERGENCES REMAIN
However, judging by the agreements reached between Singh and Obama, bilateral cooperation is still limited to the fields of trade, investment, technology and education and, despite the professed bilateral political trust, divergences between the two sides still remain in the fields of nuclear energy, anti-terrorism and environment preservation.
India and the United States reached a bilateral accord on civil nuclear cooperation during the tenure of former President George W. Bush, under which India agreed to separate its civil and military nuclear facilities and place all its civil nuclear facilities under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards. In exchange, the United States agreed to work toward full civil nuclear cooperation with India.
However, the accord is not yet in force, with the United States demanding India sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the Treaty for the Prohibition of Weapons of Mass Destruction, which India has refused.
Many Indians also hold that the U.S. requirement that India places all its civil nuclear facilities under the IAEA scrutiny represents an infringement of its sovereign rights.
In addition, India has continued to develop advanced weapons, including nuclear weapons.
As a result, the United States has always been cautious about nuclear cooperation with India.
The two countries also have disagreements about combating terrorism in South Asia.
India hopes the United States will stop military assistance to Pakistan and press the Pakistani government to disband extremist groups which the Indians believe were behind last year's bomb attacks in Mumbai.
However, Obama's policy of linking Pakistan and Afghanistan strategically suggest continued cooperation with Pakistan and only agreement in principle on the Indian requirement to ban the Pakistani groups. The United States, in fact, appears to want to stay out of the dispute between India and Pakistan regarding the Mumbai bombings.
The two countries also have different positions regarding climate change. India holds that developed countries should bring down their emissions substantially before they demand similar reductions from poor countries, and it refuses to undertake binding mitigation commitments, to the chagrin of the United States.
Meanwhile, it demands developed countries transfer more technologies and funds to developing countries.
U.S.-India strategic partnership relations upgraded