I am pleased to be here today in Hyderabad, a city world-renowned for its contributions to information technology. I am particularly happy to be speaking to the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), an organization that has done so much to advance the interests of India around the world and so much to promote relations between India and the United States. Tarun Das and all those associated with CII deserve our collective thanks.
I have come a long way to be with you today, so it only seems appropriate that I spend some time discussing a few of the major issues that concern us all. I would like to give you a sense of how we in America view the world; I would also like to give you a sense of how the Bush Administration views the U.S.-Indian relationship and India's role in the region and beyond. And as you might expect, I will have a few things to say about economic matters given that so many of you earn your living doing business -- as opposed to those of us whose business it is to do diplomacy.
In all honesty I cannot report that any of the major challenges that have required so much time and resources of late can be placed in the "done" category. There is, however, no question that a great deal has been achieved.
Let me begin with terrorism. A broad and deep international coalition is waging war against terrorists and the states that support them. UN Security Council Resolution 1373 established clear norms, placing binding obligations on countries to combat terrorist financing, recruitment, transit, safe haven, and other forms of support to terrorists. Such collective efforts are paying off. Over 160 countries have joined in freezing assets; more than 2000 suspected terrorists have been arrested in some 90 countries.
Afghans and the international community can take great pride in the real progress made in Afghanistan. A year after its liberation, it is no longer a terrorist safe-haven. An Afghan transitional government, one committed to helping its people, is up and running. Some two million refugees have voted with their feet and returned home; economic reconstruction is under way, as is the building of a national police and army. None of this is to say that there is still not a great deal of work to be done before Afghanistan is a stable, prosperous country. But the achievements of the last year are nothing short of dramatic.
In the Middle East, President Bush has articulated the goal of establishing a viable, democratic Palestinian state living side by side with Israel in peace and security by mid-2005. Our focus today is on helping Israelis and Palestinians realize this vision. The United States, together with the EU, the UN, Russia, and several Arab governments, is working to prepare the Palestinians for the responsibilities of statehood and developing a specific roadmap to assist Israelis and Palestinians transition from where they are now to where they need to be.
In a very different realm of international relations, new WTO negotiations were launched in Doha in November 2001. This round has the potential to bolster the economies of the developing world as well as the developed one. The passage of Trade Promotion Authority by the U.S. Congress greatly strengthens the President's hand in rallying American support for more open trade.
Any stock-taking also must acknowledge the tremendous strides America has made in solidifying its relationships with other major powers and important regional actors. The United States has modernized its ties with Europe and Japan, two longstanding allies. Increasingly, these relationships will focus on promoting conditions of stability in other parts of the world, not just in areas close to home. We have also fundamentally altered our relationship with some former adversaries, Russia being the most obvious and consequential case in point. There are few better manifestations of our new relationship with Russia than the historic Treaty of Moscow, which dramatically reduces the nuclear inventories of both countries. Significant change also characterizes U.S. relations with China, a country that has become a partner in the war on terrorism and to whom we now turn for assistance in dealing with the threats posed by both Iraq and North Korea.
Efforts to fundamentally alter so many of our relationships are in large part rooted in necessity and reflect the changing world around us. Increasingly, we live in a world shaped by the forces of globalization. Globalization has changed our lives in so many ways for the better. It has dramatically diminished the distances between people and has made traditional boundaries less relevant as goods, people, services, and ideas flow more rapidly around the world. In so doing, globalization has bolstered trade and investment, which are sources of better jobs, greater choice for consumers, and lower prices.
But as we saw in the tragic events of September 11, globalization also has a dark side: terrorism, the spread of weapons of mass destruction, crime, trafficking in men, women and children, the flow of drugs, the ravages of HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases.
The contours of our rapidly globalizing world have implications for all people and countries, not least of all the United States. It is a simple reality that U.S. power is unrivaled and will remain so for the foreseeable future. Yet, this power does not give the United States control over global affairs. The threats and challenges facing us and our allies are varied and numerous. To deal with them in the best possible manner, we will require the help of capable, like-minded countries. Our need for partners is particularly urgent in addressing transnational issues, the very issues that are most emblematic of this era.
U.S.-India Relations
The U.S.-India relationship should be, and can be, a cornerstone of this global network of partnerships. The transformation of our bilateral relationship over the past few years is a dramatic success story. It is a story that this administration takes seriously. And it is a story in which this administration has invested a great deal.
President Bush took office determined to move the U.S.-India relationship beyond the new patterns of cooperation that were initiated at the end of the Clinton Administration. When he welcomed Prime Minister Vajpayee to the White House in November 2001, President Bush said, "My administration is committed to developing a fundamentally different relationship with India, one based upon trust, one based upon mutual values. " The President saw that our relations were still weighted down by Cold War baggage, still defined largely by disagreements, still limited by infrequent interaction. Neither side gave the relationship the high priority it deserved; efforts to improve it lacked the urgency that was needed to bring U.S.-India relations to new heights. President Bush saw India as a country that was poised to become one of the leading nations of the 21st century. A nation of over one billion people, the largest democracy on earth, multi-ethnic, multi-religious, a critical presence in Asia. In short, he saw a nation of enormous achievement and even greater promise.
The horrible events of September 11th further galvanized the efforts that were already underway to transform the U.S.-India relationship. India's reaction to September 11 was prompt and wholehearted. India was one of the first countries to offer assistance to the United States. Its people and government expressed genuine sympathy for our loss, even as they mourned the loss of their own in the towers of the World Trade Center. September 11 did not alter the trajectory of U.S.-Indian relations. But it quickened the pace of change by underscoring the commonalities between our democracies and cementing our mutual commitment to work more closely together.
Today, we can point to a U.S.-India relationship that is greatly changed. We have come a long way, to a point where cooperation - not carping - is the dominant characteristic of our relationship. This transformation is not limited to the interaction between President Bush and Prime Minister Vajpayee; nor is it marked simply by better relations between senior members of our two governments. What we have witnessed is nothing short of a basic restructuring of how our two great nations interact.
Prime Minister Vajpayee has spoken of India and the United States as "natural allies." He is right. The United States and India have begun to realize the benefits of a partnership rooted in freedom, prosperity and security. Today, we can point to progress on a range of issues: