Turkey

Gen. Sukru Sariisik, Secretary General of the Turkish National Security Council visited India during 4-9 April 2004 and met the National Security Adviser, Mr. Brajesh Mishra, Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee, Admiral Madhavendra Singh, Army Chief, Gen. N.C.Vij, Foreign Secretary, Shri Shashank and the Deputy National Security Adviser, Shri Satish Chandra. The visit enabled both sides to exchange views on bilateral, regional and

international issues of common concern and contributed to greater mutual understanding of respective security and geo-strategic environment.

Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee, Admiral Madhavendra Singh paid a visit to Turkey from 10-15 May 2004 and had very positive interactions with his counterpart, Chief of General Staff, General Ozkok and other top brass of the Turkish armed forces.

The bilateral defence cooperation received a fillip from four-day goodwill visits of two Indian Naval ships, INS Ganga and INS Shakti to Istanbul port on 30 May 2004.

This was first such visit in seven years.

The First Meeting of the Joint Working Group on Combating Terrorism with Turkey was held during 1-2 June 2004. The Indian delegation was led by Smt. Meera Shankar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs and the Turkish delegation was headed by Ambassador

K. Ecvet Tezcan, Director General for Intelligence and Research.

The first Session of the Indo-Turkish Joint Working Group (JWG) of Economic Ministries was held in New Delhi during 6-7 October 2004. During the meeting it was agreed to set a bilateral trade target of US$ 2 billion by 2009, as compared to current value of US$ 1 billion. The JWG identified a number of sectors, including food &

food processing, construction, textiles, automobiles, electronics, pharmaceuticals, tourism, hydrocarbons, IT, bio-tech, railways and leather for further cooperation.

Indian exports to Turkey crossed US$ 1 billion mark for the first time in 2004. In addition, 37 Turkish experts availed of ITEC fellowships during the first seven months of 2004. Bilateral people-to-people contacts were boosted by a number of cultural events, food festivals and film screening organised in Turkey.

USA

I

ndia-US relations continued to witness intensive engagement towards a qualitative transformation in the year 2004-05. Both Governments reiterated their resolve to continue the process of developing a strategic partnership between India and the US. There is strong commitment on both sides to further widen, deepen and strengthen these ties. This is reflected in the Common Minimum Programme of the Indian Government and the Address of President to the Parliament in June 2004. With the re-election of President Bush in November 2004 the US Government has expressed its commitment to make the strategic partnership between India and US even more solid.

The two countries are involved in a broad dialogue on issues of mutual concern and interest, including strategic issues, defence, combating international terrorism, peacekeeping, science and technology, cyber security, health, trade, space, energy and environment. There is interaction between the two governments at all levels.

External Affairs Minister’s visit to Washington DC in June 2004 and subsequent meeting on the sidelines of ASEAN Regional Forum on 7-8 July 2004 with then US Secretary of State Colin Powell served to establish direct contact at the political level. On the US side, then Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage visited New Delhi on 13-14 July 2004 to reconfirm US commitment to continued expansion of India-US ties. The Defence Policy Group meeting in June 2004 in Delhi and India-US Space Conference in Bangalore in June 2004 provided positive signals.

Prime Minister’s US Visit

Prime Minister met President Bush on 21 September 2004 on the sidelines of UNGA in New York. In the Joint Statement “US -India partnership: Co-operation & Trust”

they noted that “bilateral relations had never been as close as they were at present” and set the direction for further development of the India - U.S. strategic partnership.

During the meeting, President Bush emphasised that US

relations with India were vital and had great potential.

Prime Minister underscored that mutual resolve to strengthen bilateral relations would create the environment of peace, prosperity and safety from terrorism. They welcomed the implementation of Phase 1 of the Next Steps in Strategic Partnership (NSSP) to include the removal of ISRO Headquarters from the Commerce Department’s Entity List, as the beginning of a new era of co-operation and trust. Expanded defence co-operation was perceived as an integral aspect of the expanding ties. The two leaders exchanged thoughts on their shared global concerns and agreed that making the world a safer place was an overriding priority. They recognized the importance of working closely together in the war against terrorism and in combating proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems.

They agreed that policies encouraging greater integration of the two economies and with the global economy would offer opportunities to expand and strengthen their economic partnership. To this end, the two leaders also expressed their desire to strengthen cooperation on international economic issues including the WTO’s Doha Development Agenda, and on the bilateral efforts such as the U.S.-India Economic Dialogue and the High Technology Cooperation Group. Foreign Secretary visited Washington DC from 16-18 September 2004 to hold discussions with his counterparts in the US Administration. He had meetings in the State Department, the White House and the Pentagon. Foreign Office Consultations and the Asian Security Dialogue were held between Foreign Secretary and Under Secretary Marc Grossman. Foreign Secretary had very good meetings with top officials in the US Administration, including Secretary of State-designate Condoleeza Rice, Deputy Secretary of Defence Paul Wolfowitz, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and with Under Secretary for Business, Economic & Agricultural Affairs Alan Larson.

Foreign Secretary also met with Under Secretary of Defence Douglas Feith, Under Secretary of Commerce Kenneth Juster and Deputy National Security Adviser, Steve Hadley. These meetings provided occasion for a very

extensive exchange of views at high levels, on both bilateral relations as also a number of regional and global issues. The US reiterated its strong commitment to strengthen Indo-US relations. Foreign Secretary led an industry-government delegation for the third HTCG meeting in Washington DC on 18-19 November 2004.

During this meeting Data Privacy and Defence Technology were the main themes for the industry- government day, while Strategic Trade and Trade Facilitation were the areas of focus on the government- government session. The meetings saw strong participation by both Indian industry and US as well as by government representatives from both sides. The plenary session had almost 100 participants.

India welcomed President Bush’s initiative of 11 February 2004 enunciating proposals to combat WMD proliferation. As part of our bilateral dialogue mecahnisms, AS (UN) and JS (AMS) held discussions with Assistant Secretary Stephen Rademaker on Strategic Stability and with Assistant Secretary Susan Burk on Non-proliferation Issues in Washington D.C. on 22 November 2004.U.S.

Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld visited India on 8-9 December 2004 and called on the Prime Minister besides having meetings with External Affairs Minister, Defence Minister, and the National Security Adviser. There was visible interest in broadening the ambit of bilateral defence cooperation.

An elaborate institutional structure of dialogue on defence issues is overseen by the Defence Policy Group, which continued its discussions at the meeting on 1-2 June 2004.

Three aspects of our relationship - military exchanges, defence supplies and technical cooperation - are each addressed by a separate bilateral group. Military contacts, exchanges and exercises have been regular and have developed their own dynamics. Notable among them in 2004 have been Ex ‘Co-operative Cope Thunder’ in Alaska from 15-31 July 2004 (between the Air Forces), Ex Yudh Abhyas in Hawaii from 12-31 July 2004 and Ex Balance Iroquois/ Ex Vajra Prahar in Leh from 5-15 September 2004 (between the Armies), and Malabar Ex from 5-10 October 2004 and Ex Flash Iroquois in 6-24 October (between the Navies).

The US Department of Defence, on 16 November 2004, notified the US Congress of proposed sale of military equipment to Pakistan including eight P-3C Orion maritime surveillance aircraft, six PHALANX Close-In Weapon Systems and an ammunition complement of 2000

TOW-2A missiles and 14 TOW-2A Fly-to-Buy missiles (valued at $ 1.2 billion). India’s strong concern with respect to U.S. arms package to Pakistan was conveyed at high levels to the US Government. The repercussions of such sales on the ongoing India-Pakistan dialogue, currently poised at a sensitive juncture, were brought out.

It was also pointed out that such transfers of arms to Pakistan at a time when Indo-US relations were seeing significant transformation and the US was being perceived in India as strategic partner, would impact on the positive sentiments and goodwill that have come to characterize Indo-U.S. relations. U.S. officials stated that the United States values its relationship with India and that President Bush is personally committed to take it forward. As far as India-Pakistan relations were concerned, while the US has an arms supply relationship with Pakistan, it was supportive of the India-Pakistan dialogue. It would also continue to take up concerns relating to cross-border terrorism.

Established in January 2000, the Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism (JWGCT) continued to be a useful mechanism to further understanding of each other’s concerns. The sixth meeting of the JWGCT, held in New Delhi from 31 August - 1 September 2004, discussed current trends in international terrorism, the situation in Afghanistan, and trends and concerns in South Asia, including cross-border terrorism. The two sides also (i) exchanged information on the law enforcement, legislative, financial and other measures taken in the field of counter-terrorism; (ii) agreed to continue training and capacity building programme; (iii) exchanged perspectives on multilateral efforts to counter-terrorism.

The first ever visit by a US Senate Majority Leader, Senator Bill Frist, accompanied by Majority Whip Senator Mitch McConnell, Senator Mike DeWine, and Senator Norm Coleman took place on 10 January 2005. The delegation called on the PM, External Affairs Minister, Minister of Health and Family Welfare and the Foreign Secretary. Another Congressional delegation led by Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Asia and Pacific Affairs, Representative James Leach and comprising Senator Sam Brownback, Senator John Corzine, Representative Frank Pallone, Representative Diane Watson, Representative Earl Blumenauer, Representative Scott Garrett, and Representative Wayne Gilchrest visited New Delhi on 13 January 2005 and called on the Prime Minister, External Affairs Minister and the Finance Minister.

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh calls on US President George W. Bush in New York on 21 September 2004.

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh at the New York Stock Exchange on 22 September 2004.

US is India’s largest trade partner and India rank 18th in the list of USA’s partners. The total trade in merchandise and commodities was $15.91 billion (up 17 per cent from

$13.56 billion in the same period last year) in the first nine months (January-September) of calendar year 2004.

The rate of growth of our exports to US in this period has been impressive 26 per cent (from $9.95 billion to $ 11.54 billion).

The US is India’s major FDI source, accounting for 21 per cent of approved FDI ($16.48 billion) between January 1991 and March 2004. India’s service exports to the US are more than $6 billion annually. To enhance the trade and economic relationship between the two countries a dialogue process consisting of a triad was followed – Next Steps in Strategic Partnership (NSSP), High Technology Cooperation Group (HTCG) and the high-level Economic Dialogue.

Since the establishment of the HTCG, high-technology trade between India and US, including licensed trade in dual-use items, has grown substantially. The U.S. dual use licenses for India climbed from 423 in FY 2002 to 619 in FY 2003 and 912 in FY 2004. In value terms too, this trade has gone up from $26.78 million in FY 2002 to

$90.06 million in 2004. The license approval rate has increased from 84 percent to 90 percent in two-year time.

The Next Steps in Strategic Partnership (NSSP) gave political direction to enhance cooperation in four areas - civilian space, civilian nuclear energy, ‘dual use’ items and missile defence. These areas of cooperation are designed to progress through a series of reciprocal steps that build on each other. Since January 2004, the two governments worked closely to conclude Phase One of the NSSP. This included implementation of measures to address proliferation concerns and ensure compliance with export controls. These efforts enabled the US to make modifications to export licensing policies that will foster cooperation in commercial space programs and permit certain exports to power plants at safeguarded nuclear facilities. ISRO Headquarters was removed from the Department of Commerce Entity List. The completion of Phase One of NSSP was announced in a Joint Statement on 17 September 2004 during Foreign Secretary’s visit to US. Subsequently, two meetings - one in New Delhi on 21 October and the other in Washington on 18 November - took place of the Implementation Group of NSSP to explore ways to move further in the next phase.

An Agreement between the Government of India and

the Government of the United States of America regarding mutual assistance between their Customs Administrations was signed in New Delhi on 15 December 2004. The Agreement is aimed at facilitating reliable, quick and cost effective information and intelligence for the prevention, apprehension and investigation of Customs offences and offenders.

India and US have finalized a new Air Transport Agreement (ATA) after the bilateral civil aviation talks which were held from 13-15 January 2005 in Washington DC. The new agreement was initialled by representatives of the two countries and is expected to be signed at a later date at ministerial level. The proposed ATA would replace the existing 1956 Agreement to meet the growing requirements for air services and rising demand for travel facilities between the two countries. Following the conclusion of ATA, the air services between the two countries are expected to see an exponential growth, giving a greater fillip and thrust to the existing passenger, air cargo and mail services between the two countries.

The ATA would also facilitate the rapidly increasing trade and commercial traffic, promote tourism and further enhance travel amenities and choices for the movement and travel of people of two countries.

India-US Economic Dialogue was set up following an understanding between US President and Prime Minister of India in November 2001. In 2004 both Governments agreed to the designation of Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission as the Co-Chairperson and Foreign Secretary as his Deputy, and the Economic Policy Assistant to the US President as the Co-Chair and Under Secretary for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs as his Deputy from the respective sides. The dialogue is being revamped to lend it greater focus and efficacy.

The second meeting of the India-US Cyber Security Forum (IUSCSF) was held in Washington on 8-10 November 2004. The Plenary and the Working Group sessions resulted in a very substantive programme of action.

Following the Tsunami tragedy, India and USA together with Japan and Australia and later joined by the Netherlands, and Canada formed a Core Group to coordinate more effective joint action in the first phase of operations. The group worked together closely with the UN and examined ways in which the relief effort could best be channelised through the UN. Even after disbanding of the Core Group, the two countries

cooperated within the overall ambit of the UN. India had deputed Liaison Officers at Hawaii with the Pacific Command and at Utaphao at the Combined Support Force (CSF) 536 and sent two US MPAT (Multinational Planning and Augmentation Team) trained officer to Utaphao to participate in the planning exercise at the CSF 536.

Catalogue of likely events till March 31 2005:

Visit of US Transportation Secretary Norman Y.

Mineta in February 2005 when the Air Transport Agreement is likely to be signed.

Visit of Treasury Secretary tentatively suggested for March 2005.