New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama held bilateral talks on Sunday where they spoke of terroism and the global threat it posed.Â
Modi called terrorism as taking on a new character “even as existing challenges persist”. They further agreed on that the need was for a comprehensive global strategy and approach to combat terrorism with.
Both leaders reaffirmed the need for joint and concerted efforts to disrupt entities such as Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, D Company and the Haqqani Network.
After NewsMobile released never-heard-before tapes confirming the presence of Dawood Ibrahim in Pakistan conducting his multi-billion dollar business, the two sides decided to take mutual action against the D-Company and noted the recent U.S. sanctions against three D Company affiliates.
The President and the Prime Minister further agreed to continue to work toward an agreement to share information on known and suspected terrorists.Â
In comments which could be construed as aiming at neighbouring Pakistan, Modi said there should be no distinction between terrorist groups. “Every country must fulfil its commitments to eliminate terrorist safe havens and bring terrorists to justice.”
Modi also called the partnership as more relevant in the digital age of far-reaching turmoil, adding, “the success of this partnership is important for advancing peace and prosperity around the world.”
They also announced take the defence cooperation to a new level, agreeing “in principle, to pursue co-development and co-production of specific advanced defence projectsâ€.
Modi said this cooperation would help upgrade the twos domestic defence industry; and expanding the manufacturing sector in India.
The two also decided to explore cooperation in other areas of advanced defence technologies.
President Obama and Prime Minister Modi made a historic breakthrough in the nuclear deal. With a win for the Modi government, the US backed off from their want of monitoring use of any material or equipment in a US reactor even if it was sourced from a third country.
India has seen this as an extremely intrusive measure which it believed impinged on its nuclear sovereignty.
Stalled since 2008, the advancement comes after many stumbling blocks on the nuclear issue, including a liability law in which India holds the suppliers directly liable in case of a nuclear accident. Countries like France and the US, however had asked India to follow global norms under which the primary liability was with the operator.
Another contentious clause in the liability law was unlimited liability for which international companies would have found it difficult to get insurers.
India and the US had negotiated on these clauses for long, and now it seems the two leaders used their growing proximity to seal the deal.
President Obama also reaffirmed the US’ stand on backing India’s want for a permanent membership at the UN Security Council.
He also mentioned that the two agreed on trade and economic partnership which must focus on improving daily lives of people. With trade at $100 billion Obama said the US wanted to trade more and appreciated the reforms Modi had carried out to make business with India easier.
Speaking on climate change, Obama said India was a country which would be most affected by global warming and hence it was imperative for it to have a greater role. The two leaders thus jointly decided to take necessary steps to support clean energy and climate change.
US would also help in India’s role for solar energy, launching new projects to improve air quality in Indian cities.
During the question and answer round, Obama was asked about Russia’s action in Ukraine, and where US’ actions against the Kremlin stood. He replied that although there would not be any military action against Russia, a larger nation would not be allowed to bully a smaller nation.
“We have no interest in seeing Russia weakened or its economy in shambles. We have a profound interest, as I believe every country does, in promoting a core principle, which is: Large countries don’t bully smaller countries,” Obama told reporters.
Russia remains India’s largest supplier of weapons, and Russian military imports still amount to three-quarters of India’s stockpile.
On being questioned about Obama’s comments, India’s Foreign secretary Sujatha Singh said India’s stand and relationship with Russia remained the same.
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