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US reviewing sanctions on India: Rocca

Aziz Haniffa in Washington

The Bush administration is committed to completing the transformation of the US-India relationship that was set into motion in the past few years, according to the administration's point person for South Asia.

Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs, Christina Rocca, addressing the annual national legislative conference of the Indian American Friendship Council in Washington, said: "The first characteristic of this relationship, and the foundation of our policy, is recognition of the vitality and importance of India to American interests."

She predicted that "our interests and efforts will increasingly intersect throughout the world," and expressed confidence that "our shared interests will generally enable the US and India to work closely together."

Recalling her first exclusive interview after her confirmation granted to India Abroad (July 6), Rocca said: "I see my new job as coordinator of that cooperation," and to "accomplish this, I'll be working closely both with colleagues in the US government and with friends in the government of India."

A second characteristic, she said, "is a new focus on India's economic significance."

Rocca acknowledged that "India's economic potential, following a decade of free-market reforms, is immense," and noted that "India's general technological prowess and, in particular, its leadership in information technology is acknowledged around the world."

But she bemoaned that even though the US is India's largest trading partner, "bilateral trade remains far below what it should be. As for investment, US companies are definitely interested in India -- but again, quite frankly, the investment climate is far from optimal."

"Common global and regional security interests," Rocca said, "comprise a third and very important aspect of US policy toward India."

She said that "as the largest country in the region, India has a role and responsibility to play in helping secure stable, peaceful conditions in South Asia and beyond."

Rocca acknowledged that in this connection, "a review of our sanctions policy is now underway. And we will need to work closely with Congress to see how the current situation might be changed."

She added that non-proliferation "remains an important goal of the US policy, "but explained that Washington wants "to expand and transform our engagement on defense issues, talking more about potential areas of cooperation while continuing to narrow our remaining differences."

Rocca pointed out that "a major change that is already detectable in our security dialogue, I think, is that we are now discussing a much wider range of topics."

She said there would be many other high-level visits to India in the wake of Joint Chiefs of Staffs General Henry Shelton's visit to India beginning Thursday.

President Bush, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld "have accepted invitations to visit India," she said.

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