Rise of India as a world leader has been meteoric: Biden

Lalit K Jha
Washington, Nov 25 (PTI) Noting that the Indo-US nuclear
deal was a major step forward in strengthening relationship
between the two countries, US Vice President Joe Biden
Wednesday termed "meteoric" the rise of India as a global
leader.
"The rise of India as a leader within the community of
nations has been meteoric and historic, and it has been
profoundly, profoundly welcome," the Vice President, said in
his address at a State Department luncheon hosted in honour of
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
"Secretary (of State Hillary) Clinton and I cannot
overstate how important we think that relationship is and how
warmly we welcome the leadership of India," he said.
Biden, who as the Senator had played a key role in the
passage of the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal, said US
Presidents -- beginning with President Bill Clinton,
continuing with President George W Bush and now with President
Barack Obama -- have worked very hard and not only from the
head but from the heart to strengthen this relationship.
"The historic agreement on peaceful nuclear cooperation
was a major step forward, a major step forward, in US-Indian
relations and are now closer than ever before," Biden said.
The US Vice President appreciated the leadership shown
by the Prime Minister in the nuclear deal. "You took some real
risks. You had to exercise genuine leadership in a divided
government to push forward that agreement. And for that, I
want to as a plain old politician compliment you for your
courage and skill, in which you pursued that," he said amidst
a round of applause.
"It's been said that the US-India relationship is a
bond between, as the secretary said, the oldest and the
largest democracies in the world. In the 21st century, as the
world becomes smaller, the bonds between us grow stronger," he
said.
"Those bonds are built on the shared traditions which
you mentioned today with the President (Barack Obama), Mr
Prime Minister, of pluralism, tolerance, diversity and
democracy," he said, adding: "For years, our relationship grew
stronger, its focus remained narrow: how to contend with the
issues between us. Well, increasingly now we recognise our
partnership and expand it to how we can deal with the
relationships that both of us together can make a positive
impact on and influence the world."
Referring to the strategic dialogue launched by Clinton
and her Indian counterpart S M Krishna, the Vice President
said, "More than ever before, the United States and India
together, together, not only are but have an obligation to
make a global impact."
"These are not easy days, and this is coming up on an
anniversary of a very sad event in your country, the terrorist
attack in Mumbai. No one need tell you, Indian population or
India leadership, that we have a common concern about
terrorism in the world," he said. PTI LKJ
RDM