Partners in war on terror

A joint statement signed today by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President George Bush seeks to put greater emphasis on a collaborative presence in various global issues ranging from terrorism, maritime trade concerns and security, among others.

At a press conference, Bush spoke extensively on terrorism against the background of the two bomb blasts in Karachi, which claimed the life of a US foreign service official.

"Bomb blasts will not keep me from going to Pakistan and help President Musharraf in his efforts to fight terrorism" he said. This is understood to be a strong US endorsement of Musharraf's regime.

The joint statement noted the enhanced counter-terrorism cooperation between the US and India, stressing that terrorism was a global scourge that must be rooted out in every part of the world.

The statement had a pointed reference to military cooperation, particularly since the New Framework for the US-India Defence Relationship was signed in 2005.

The two countries agreed to conclude a Maritime Cooperation Framework to enhance security, carry out search and rescue operations, combat marine pollution, and address emergent threats.

"Both sides are working to finalise a logistics support pact at the earliest", the statement said.

Protection of sea lanes from piracy is an area where India has special expertise. During a visit to Mumbai last year, Admiral William Fallon, commander-in-chief of the US's Pacific Command had even mooted the posting of officers in each other's ships to observe the way the two navies work.

The US also welcomed India's intention to join the Container Security Initiative aimed at making global maritime trade and infrastructure more secure and at reducing the risk of shipping containers being used to conceal weapons of mass destruction.

The two countries reiterated their commitment to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. President Bush noted that the US's response to the tsunami, and later, India's logistics help after Hurricane Katrina had been useful.

The statement offered the use of the resources from the jointly-launched UN Democracy Fund last year offering capacity building initiatives and training to new democracies, and hailed the decision of the two countries to designate a representative to the Government Advisory Board of the International Centre for Democratic Transition (ICDT), located in Budapest, to facilitate cooperative activities with the ICDT.