During a visit to Washington DC, Indian Minister of External Affairs S.M. Krishna and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week reiterated their shared goal of advancing security and stability across Asia, in particular, through the emergence of an open, balanced, and inclusive architecture of cooperation in the region.
They acknowledged the importance of continued cooperation in efforts to defeat terrorism. They called for swift and credible steps to eliminate terrorist safe havens and vowed to strengthen global consensus and legal regimes against terrorism, including by working together at the UN toward adoption of a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism that strengthens our efforts in combating terrorism.
Both Minister Krishna and Secretary Clinton heralded the unprecedented and expanding India-U.S. counterterrorism partnership, as embodied in the recently announced U.S.-India Counterterrorism Cooperation Initiative to enhance collaboration, information sharing and capacity building.
They recognized the scope for enhancement of defense trade between both countries to the mutual benefit of both sides.
Minister Krishna and Secretary Clinton expressed satisfaction with the strengthening of defense cooperation in recent years and stressed that security dialogues, service-level exchanges, and trade and technology transfer and collaboration on mutually determined terms were an intrinsic part of the strategic partnership and should be further strengthened. They welcomed the regular engagement of Armed Forces of both countries, including through conduct of joint military exercises.
