Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is an honour to be invited to this distinguished gathering at the AJC Annual Dinner. The people of Indiaadmire the pioneering work of AJC, particularly in promoting human rights and combating religiousdiscrimination. We also value your contribution to promoting US-India relations and India-Israel relations.
India has a historical affinity with the Jewish people. It is one of very few countries in the world with nohistory of anti-Semitism. Until the early 1990's, the constraints of the Cold War prevented this cordialityfrom extending to India's relations with Israel. Now we have full diplomatic relations, and a broad range ofeconomic and, defence cooperation. We have increased the tempo of our high-level visits. We hope to receivePrime Minister Ariel Sharon soon in India on an official visit.
The end of the Cold War also ushered in a major transformation in India's relations with USA. Our PrimeMinister has referred to the two countries as `natural allies'. The US National Security Strategy report,released last September by President Bush, asserts that the two countries have common strategic interests.
India, the United States and Israel have some fundamental similarities. We are all democracies, sharing acommon vision of pluralism, tolerance and equal opportunity. Stronger India-US relations and India-Israelrelations have a natural logic.