Washington: Allaying any concerns in New Delhi about Washington warming up to Beijing, the US Wednesday made it clear that building better relations with China or any other country would not be at the cost of India.
"Of course, we are interested in building better relations with China, but that does not mean it has to be at the cost of India," US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns said when asked about President Barrack Obama not mentioning India in a major speech about Asia's role in world affairs.
The clearest indication of this was the fact that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Washington next week would be the first hosted by the Obama administration, he said speaking at an event at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington think tank.
On matters of common international concern, the US looked to China and many other countries, said Burns, who is among the top US officials giving finishing touches to a "strategic dialogue framework with India" to take their relationship to the next level during the visit.
In this context he commended India's contribution in Afghanistan, noting that New Delhi had provided more than a billion dollars worth of development assistance to Afghanistan for many projects.
Like many other US officials before him, Burns reassured India that it is firmly committed to full implementation of their landmark civil nuclear deal as quickly as possible.
"We look forward to the completion of the remaining steps on both sides," he said, noting that US companies stand to benefit a great deal with the implementation of the nuclear deal following the allocation of two nuclear reactor park sites in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat exclusively for US firms.
In the meantime, the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Robert Blake, has said there is no need for New Delhi to be concerned over the reference to the Indo-Pak ties in a US-China joint statement.
"I don't think there needs to be any concern in India about what the President said in China. We have very important relations with China. But we have equally important relations with India," Blake told reporters at a news briefing.
And I think that will come out very clearly during the course of the Indian Prime Minister's visit next week he told reporters at a news briefing.
Welcoming China's interest in helping to stabilise the Afghanistan and Pakistan region, Blake said the Obama administration believe that China has important equities, particularly in Afghanistan, where they have very significant investments.
"As with most of the other countries in the world, we welcome China's participation in helping to stabilise that very important part of the region," he said.
As for Indo-Pak relationship, Blake reiterated the viewpoint of the Obama administration that it is for India and Pakistan to decide on the substance, scope and pace of their relationship.
"We've always said, in terms of Indo-Pakistan relations, that's really up to India and Pakistan to decide how and when and the scope of that," he added. As friends to both of those countries, we have always encouraged both countries to meet and to try to narrow their differences, he said.
Bureau Report