By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : The US is engaging India on a number of issues besides the India-US civil nuclear deal, the White House said as visiting Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony met his US counterpart Robert Gates.
“We’re working with India on a variety of things, including the civil nuclear agreement,” press secretary Dana Perino said Tuesday without spelling out any details of other areas where the two countries are engaged.
She was asked if Washington would seek India’s cooperation in the war in Afghanistan during talks with Antony, who is the first high-level visit from India since the US played a key role in winning India a waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).
Antony Tuesday met Gates after a full ceremonial honour at the Pentagon to discuss ways to deepen the bilateral security cooperation and exchange views on regional and international issues of mutual interest.
He rounds off the four-day visit after meetings with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and President George W. Bush’s National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley Wednesday.
Antony is leading a high-powered delegation, including defence secretary Vijay Singh and three senior officers from the army, navy and air force. The last time an Indian defence minister visited the US was in June 2005, when Pranab Mukherjee held the portfolio.
Earlier, Antony lauded the Indian American community for their sustained activism and lobbying for the India-US nuclear deal, which he said was catalytic in helping to fructify it.
“You played a major role in shaping public opinion in India and the US,” Antony said at a reception organised by the Indian American community of the Washington metropolitan area at the Indian embassy Monday.
“I am not flattering you. But your focused, steadfast support helped us clinch this deal and for this I express my gratitude,” he added.
He praised the Indian-American community for “doing a lot of things, more than the people of India, to present a better image of India throughout the world, especially in the US”.
The defence minister referred to a slew of agreements between the US and India since Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s 2005 visit to the US that would help alleviate the lot “of the common people in India and help in the economic development of India”.