US is pushing forward with emerging economies like China and India, while Harper has undone the good work of Paul Martin who initiated a new department for BRIC countries.
Canada- India relationship was poised for a big takeover with Paul Martin as the Prime Minister, but as the Conservatives came to power, there has been a lot of talk , but little action in reality. It is true that some members of the Indo-Canadian, specifically Hindu Canadians voted for the Conservatives in the last two elections, through active engagement by the Conservatives with that community. However, there is a swift reversal since Ignatieff became the leader and started reaching out to all Canadians, including Indo- Canadians. There is also a big sense of disappointment among many with the lackluster performance of the Conservatives on the India file and the failure to move forward on many important deals, including a proposed free trade agreement, that will significantly help Canadian businesses to expand to Indian market.
Obama is going to play a big role in strengthening US- India relationship that can be a threat to Canada, as American companies are looking for greener pastures for sourcing their products and services. Canada needs a world traveled, visionary leader like Ignatieff to lead us into the next generation through strong relationship with India, China,Russia, Latin America and other emerging markets.
This is a note sent to me by my friend Ram in the US, who is an active proponent of Indo- US relationship. He have provided the highlights of the speech.
Addressing the U.S.-India Business Council’s 34th Anniversary "Synergies Summit" in Washington DC today (June 17, 2009), Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said that the Obama administration is "clearly committed to furthering and deepening our relationship with India in every way possible," outlined "four platforms of cooperation in global security, human development, economic activity, science and technology" and affirmed that she planned to make the U.S.-India relationship "a personal priority."
The full text and Video can be seen here in US dept of state website
**So four platforms of cooperation – global security, human development, economic activity, science and technology – can support us in launching this third phase of the U.S.-India relationship.
The Highlights:
**We are clearly committed to furthering and deepening our relationship with India in every way possible.
**I will be visiting India next month, which I’m looking forward to. The new governments in Washington and New Delhi will build this future together, and we will be discussing the details of that partnership when I visit India next month.
**When I was elected to the Senate, I co-founded and co-chaired the Senate’s India Caucus, the first time we had done that.
**I want you to place me and where I stand as Secretary of State. It is in a position of deep commitment to building stronger ties with India, a commitment based on mutual respect and mutual interests. And I know that President Obama feels the same way. We see India as one of a few key partners worldwide who will help us shape the 21st century.
**The nuclear deal, which was completed through the efforts of former President Bush, removed the final barrier to broader cooperation between us.
**Today, I can tell you my hope and President Obama’s hope that the next stage in our country’s relationship will see a dramatic expansion in our common agenda, and a greater role for India in solving global challenges. We recognize the extraordinary progress that India has made already, and we know that many of these advances have not come easily, and we don’t take them for granted. As we pursue an enhanced bilateral partnership, we should recognize that compared to other metrics of our cooperation, our official ties are past due for an upgrade.
**We need the bilateral cooperation between our governments to catch up with our people-to-people and economic ties. We need to make sure that the partnership between Washington and New Delhi, our capitals, will be as advanced and fruitful as the linkages that already exist between Manhattan and Mumbai, or Boston and Bangalore.
**I hope that an expanded partnership between the U.S. and India will be one of the signature accomplishments of both new governments in both countries, and I do plan to make that a personal priority. To achieve the goal of stronger ties between our countries, we will have to confront and transcend the mistrust that has hampered our cooperation in the past, and address the lingering uncertainties in our relationship still today.
**Some Americans fear that greater prosperity and partnership with India will mean lost jobs or falling wages here in the United States. Some Indians believe that closer cooperation with us runs counter to their nation’s very strong tradition of independence.
**But as friendly democracies, in fact, as the oldest and largest democracies in the world, we should work through any issues in our relationship and differences in our perspective by focusing on shared objectives and concrete results. I want to put us into the solutions business.
**We need to build on several natural platforms. The first is global security. India and the United States share an overriding interest in making the world more secure. The tragic attacks of 26/11 were a global event. They played out in slow motion on television screens across India, the United States, and the world. The violence inflicted on the people of Mumbai, and the loss of six American citizens in those attacks, was a reminder that terrorism represents a common threat to our nations and our people, and we must meet it with a common strategy.
**As part of that strategy, we should expand our broader security relationship and increase cooperation on counterterrorism and intelligence sharing. And the President and I are committed to working with India in whatever way is appropriate to enhance India’s ability to protect itself.
**We should also work to realize a vision articulated by generations of Indians, Americans, and recently by President Obama, of a nuclear-free world. The Civil Nuclear Agreement helped us get over our defining disagreement, and I believe it can and should also serve as the foundation of a productive partnership on nonproliferation.
**We have a common interest in creating a stable, peaceful Afghanistan, where India is already providing $1.2 billion in assistance to facilitate reconstruction efforts. The United States is committed to the task ahead in Afghanistan, and I hope India will continue its efforts there as well. And of course, we believe that India and Pakistan actually face a number of common challenges, and we welcome a dialogue between them.
**As we have said before, the pace, scope, and character of that dialogue is something that Indian and Pakistani leaders will decide on their own terms and in their own time. But as Pakistan now works to take on the challenge of terrorists in its own country, I am confident that India, as well as the United States, will support those efforts.
**India’s moral stature and its long tradition of leadership among developing countries means that it is particularly well-suited to take on the challenges that multinational institutions face. I have always believed states should be awarded enhanced roles in international bodies not only on the basis of their power, but whether they use that power constructively to advance the common good and address global problems. India already is a major player on the world stage, and we will look to cooperate with New Delhi as it shoulders the responsibilities that accompany its new position of global leadership.
**Human development – particularly in the fields of education, women’s empowerment, and health – is another platform for cooperation.
**We should build on the goals articulated by India’s leadership to boost literacy, expand vocational training, and improve access to higher education. I hope we can partner with India to improve outcomes at all levels of education. Our countries should continue the tradition of intellectual exchange by increasing opportunities for interaction by American institutions of higher learning and their Indian counterparts as well.
**We should continue working together to promote initiatives like micro-lending and provide training programs for rural women as tools to help lift them and their families out of poverty.
**We can also work together to address health challenges including nutrition, maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS, and other infectious diseases, as well as the growing problem of chronic disease in both of our nations. We need to share knowledge and best practices to improve human development at home and around the world. And I appreciate all that is being done by this group and certainly this Council to promote economic and trade cooperation. We should begin negotiations on a bilateral investment treaty soon. And I’m confident that our Trade Representative and Minister Sharma will bring a fresh perspective and new ideas to help move the Doha Round negotiations to a successful conclusion.
**President Obama has been clear that the United States has learned the lessons of the past. We will not use the global financial crisis as an excuse to fall back on protectionism. We hope India will work with us to create a more open, equitable set of opportunities for trade between our nations.
**Encouraging greater agricultural cooperation should be a major focus of our economic agenda. India is ripe for a second green revolution. A significant expansion of India’s agricultural sector would have dramatic benefits for Indians, but also could help to spur agricultural revolutions in Africa and other parts of the globe where food security remains a persistent problem.
**Our commitment to work with the business community means that in September we will re-launch the CEO Forum on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly. We hope that effort, along with other initiatives, will channel the power of the private sector and entrepreneurs to build and improve the lives of both Indians and Americans.
**Finally, we should bring together the best of our technological and scientific brains to encourage breakthroughs in both science and technology. This is particularly important on issues related to energy and climate. We are committed to working with India to see India’s economy continue to prosper, to create more economic opportunity, rising incomes. We want Indians to have a higher standard of living. And we hope our countries can work together to achieve that overriding goal, while avoiding the mistakes that were made by everyone in creating the climate crisis we face today. We think there is great promise in a clean energy cooperation strategy focused on adopting low carbon technologies, improving energy efficiency, forestation, and water management. And these efforts should be supported by new and existing high-level dialogues between representatives of our governments.
**We can also learn from Indian doctors and companies that are pioneering low-cost solutions to many of the health challenges we face today. The Serum Institute’s groundbreaking work to reduce the cost of vaccine manufacturing is one example of this phenomenon. There are many others. Applying their discoveries to global health initiatives will help us save resources and lives.
**Public-private partnerships between governments, industry, civil society will be vital to everyone of these platforms.
Cpl. Nicholas Bulger is Canada's 121st soldier to become a martyr fighting for our values against the terrorists in Afghanistan. It is always hard on a family when a near and dear one dies and it is hard on our family of 33 million Canadians to have lost another father/brother/son of our country.
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