By IANS,
Washington : Discounting suggestions that Indo-US relations were in a drift or were not as warm as they used to be under the previous Bush administration, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the two countries enjoyed a multi-faceted relationship and was not just a “single track operation”.
“Well I have a very good relationship with President Obama. So I think there should no confusion on that point,” he told reporters Tuesday when asked if he agreed with suggestions that he shared better relations with for President George Bush.
“In matters relating to statecraft I think one should not jump prematurely into conclusions which are not warranted by the facts on the ground,” Manmohan Singh said when another questioner wondered if his personal rapport with Obama really translated into concrete actions.
“We have a multi-faceted relationship. The economic content of the relation is important. There are several other dimensions,” he pointed out noting the two nations work together in many regional fora. “So it is not a single track operation.”
“The United States is a super power. It is a very important player in global affairs,” Manmohan Singh said and India looked “forward to working with the United States to find practical, pragmatic solutions to the problems which the world faces.”
Asked what action he expected from the US on the issue of cross border terrorism given its constraints in the war on terror in Afghanistan, Manmohan Singh hoped “what I said to President weigh considerably with the administration.”
“But I am not an astrologer. I cannot predict what will be final shape of things to come.”
The prime minister also made light of Pakistan’s demand for an India-type civil nuclear deal with the US.
“Who am I to interfere with what goes on between the United States and Pakistan?” he said when asked about reiteration of the Pakistani demand by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani. “That’s a matter for these two countries to consider,” he added.