Interview by Amitabha Chakrabarti of Doordarshan Television
\
Secretary Condoleezza Rice
Washington, DC
July 15, 2005
(7:45 a.m. EDT)
MR. CHAKRABARTI: Welcome to our studios, Secretary Rice.
SECRETARY RICE: Thank you.
MR. CHAKRABARTI: In the context of the forthcoming visit of the Prime Minister, Mr. Manhohan Singh to the U.S., I'd
like to ask you what are the issues that are likely to be taken up during the visit?
SECRETARY RICE: We have made a lot of progress in U.S.-Indian relations over the last few years. This is turning into a
very important relationship for both countries. The United States recognizes India's rise as a modern democracy,
multiethnic democracy, and we welcome India's enhanced role in international affairs. So we will talk about the full
range of issues: economic cooperation; we have had recently between our defense ministers discussions of defense
cooperation; we will talk about the energy needs of both sides because, obviously, growing economies need energy that is
clean and protects the environment but also permits growth; and of course, we will talk also about the common values
that we share as large democracies.
MR. CHAKRABARTI: That's fine. Now, this Indo-U.S. bilateral cooperation is upbeat and it is often said it has never
been so good as it is now. Now that both the countries are on the threshold of the next steps in strategic partnership,
how do you assess -- it was introduced in 2004, about 18 months down the line -- how do you assess the progress in these
three areas now?
SECRETARY RICE: I would assess the progress as very good. We have already finished one phase and a second phase and we
are now seeing conformance of laws and statutes to make possible the kind of cooperation that we need to have. We have
had, for instance, high-technology and space cooperation that I think was stalled, but we are starting to make a lot of
progress in that area. And of course, we also look forward to further discussions of how we can move forward in energy
cooperation and in further high-technology cooperation. So I think it's been a very good last few years. I had a very
good visit to India earlier in the year. My counterpart, Foreign Minister Singh, was here and we are very much looking
forward to Prime Minister Singh's arrival here in Washington next week.
MR. CHAKRABARTI: In the field of military cooperation, there has been a quantum jump, you know, you see in the last 50
years; in the last five years or so, it has been spectacular. I mean, what is the roadmap further? Would India become
the Indo-U.S. joint production hub, the defense industry sector in future? That is one growing area.
SECRETARY RICE: Well, I think we don't know yet what the evolution of this relationship will be. We still have a lot to
work on because the defense cooperation relationship, as you have just said, is relatively new. But we are making a lot
of progress. We are delighted that we have some potential for the purchase of high-technology equipment. We are
delighted that we are going to participate in the bid for high-performance aircraft in India. And so this defense
cooperation relationship is going along very well and I know that we will have military-to-military exchanges. I know
that my colleague, Don Rumsfeld, was very pleased to have his counterpart here and I also met with your Defense
Minister. So this is a relationship that is well underway. I think we will have to see where the future leads us, but it
is well underway.
MR. CHAKRABARTI: Well, you agree that it is a really promising area, you know, this. Now coming to a common issue, that
is, you know, since 9/11 the entire West has realized the menace called international terrorism. Actually, the entire
(inaudible) leadership was huddled in Gleneagles on the day of the terror attacks in London. What concrete steps do you
visualize as a direct consequence of this London blast? How do you also visualize India's role in this context of
Indo-U.S. cooperation in the global fight against terrorists?
SECRETARY RICE: It is very obvious that what happened in London is just an unfortunate and tragic reminder that we
still have a lot of work to do in the war on terrorism and the war against extremism. India, as a democracy that is
multiethnic and that has suffered terrorism itself, is, of course, a very good partner in the war on terrorism. We have
excellent cooperation in intelligence, we have excellent cooperation on the law enforcement side. I would expect that we
will see even greater cooperation.
We, of course, are concerned that terrorism be devalued as a method of resolving grievances, and that is why the work
that is being done to deal with underlying political situations is extremely important, too. And in this regard, we
welcome very much the work that Prime Minister Singh has been doing to improve relations with Pakistan and we hope that
the relationship between President Musharraf and Prime Minister Singh will continue to improve.
MR. CHAKRABARTI: The public opinion in India is a little bit disappointed on the American stand not to push forward
right now the question of expansion of UN reforms. Well, would you like to throw some light on this, if you could?
SECRETARY RICE: Yes, of course. The United States favors the expansion of the Security Council and, in fact, we have
said that we can support the establishment of two or so permanent seats. We don't believe that a veto is necessary for
those. But we understand that the Security Council needs to look like 2005, not 1945.
We have also talked about criteria by which the Security Council might be expanded: countries that can play a global
role, countries that are accountable to their populations through democratic governments. And we look to be supportive
of expansion. We have long supported the candidacy of Japan. That goes back several administrations. And India, along
with others in the Group of Four, are our friends. And it is not that we oppose anyone's candidacy. It is that we
believe very strongly that the larger issues of UN reform also have to be addressed, and if we have UN Security Council
reform out of phase with the larger UN reforms, then we will not do justice to the organization.
But I have said and the President will reiterate that India's role in international politics, which is growing and
growing in a more positive way, will have to be accommodated in the international institutions. And that, of course,
includes the UN.
MR. CHAKRABARTI: Thank you very much, Ms. Rice.
SECRETARY RICE: Thank you.
2005/704
Released on July 15, 2005