India’s Minister of External Affairs Shri S.M. Krishna and the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met in New Delhi on July 19, 2011, for the second annual meeting of the India-U.S. Strategic Dialogue. The leaders recognized the achievements made since the inaugural Strategic Dialogue in June 2010 and President Obama’s historic visit to India in November 2010 in advancing our two countries’ shared interests. They committed to continuing to broaden and deepen the India-U.S. global strategic partnership.
As a testament to the relationship’s extraordinary breadth and depth, Secretary Clinton was accompanied by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, the President’s Advisor for Science and Technology Dr. John P. Holdren, Department of Energy Deputy Secretary Daniel Poneman, Department of Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Jane Holl Lute, and other senior U.S. government officials.
Minister Krishna was joined by Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Prime Minister’s Public Information Infrastructure and Innovation Advisor Sam Pitroda, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, and other senior officials.
Minister Krishna was also joined at the working lunch by Home Minister P. Chidambaram and Minister for Human Resource Development and Information Technology Kapil Sibal.
As part of Secretary Clinton’s visit to India, she met with Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, Chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance Sonia Gandhi, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, and National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon.
Secretary Clinton offered her prayers and sympathies to the victims of the despicable attacks in Mumbai on July 13. The American people stand with the Indian people in times of trial, and offer support to India’s efforts to bring the perpetrators of these terrible crimes to justice. Minister Krishna welcomed the expressions of support from the Secretary, the President, and the U.S. Congress. The two leaders resolved to strengthen cooperation between their governments to fight against terrorism.
Since the inaugural Strategic Dialogue in 2010, the India-U.S. partnership has resulted in advances in nearly every area of human endeavor. The two sides have expanded their strategic consultations to cover all major issues and regions of the world. They have increased counterterrorism cooperation, intelligence sharing, and law enforcement exchanges. They have continued to expand their defence cooperation. They have expanded their growing partnership on export controls and non-proliferation. They have witnessed an expansion of the already robust people-to-people ties; scientific, space, and technology collaboration; clean energy cooperation; and connections among entrepreneurs and social innovators.
The two leaders emphasized our countries’ shared values – pluralism, tolerance, openness, and respect for fundamental freedoms and human rights. They reiterated Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh’s and President Barack Obama’s pledge to harness these shared strengths and to expand the India-U.S. global partnership for the benefit of their countries; and, for peace, stability, and prosperity in Asia and the world.
Today, the two leaders reviewed progress in bilateral relations and set new goals to further strengthen the India-U.S. Global Strategic Partnership.