Snooping “unacceptable”: India bluntly tells United States

The two leaders reaffirmed their support for a unified, independent and sovereign Afghanistan and expressed admiration for the determination of the Afghan people.pt

Updated: August 4, 2014 7:59 PM IST

By Press Trust of India

Snooping

The two leaders reaffirmed their support for a unified, independent and sovereign Afghanistan and expressed admiration for the determination of the Afghan people to exercise their democratic right to vote despite the significant threat from terrorist elements.

Expressing concern at the steep escalation of violence in Gaza and Israel, resulting in the loss of numerous civilian lives, they called upon both sides to exercise maximum restraint and expressed hope that necessary conditions will be created for a sustainable ceasefire and the early resumption of peace talks, towards a comprehensive resolution of the Middle East issue.

Kerry and Swaraj reaffirmed their commitment to ensure that the United Nations Security Council continues to effectively play its role in maintaining international peace and security as envisioned in the UN Charter. The visiting leader reaffirmed that the US looks forward to a reformed UN Security Council that includes India as a permanent member.

The two leaders intend to upgrade the existing dialogue on Peacekeeping into a broader dialogue on UN issues, the first round of which India offered to host prior to the UN General Assembly session in September, the statement said. Noting that India and the US were “two confident nations” which have same core values, Kerry said the two countries have responsibility to ensure welfare of its citizens irrespective of their background.

“From women’s right to minority rights there is room to go further for both of us. We must also speak in a common voice that violence against women in any shape and form is violence against our deep core value,” Kerry said. Earlier in the day, Kerry along with Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker met Finance and Defence Minister Arun Jaitley.

Kerry also maintained that US has a policy that it does not discuss intelligence matters in public. However, he added that America had conversations as the Minister has stated with government officials about surveillance reports.

Swaraj also raised the issue of US immigration bill pending before the Senate which may limit the mobility of Indian IT professionals to the US. The minister said she has conveyed to Kerry that if passed it will send a “negative signal” to professionals here when India is opening up and added that her ministerial colleague Nirmala Sitharaman has also raised the issue.

Another issues which was discussed in detail was India’s stand on food security at WTO. On trade-related issues, Kerry said there was a lot of work yet to done in breaking down trade barriers and to limit obstacles including tariffs, price controls, preferrential treatment to certain products in large influential markets.

“We can build a more competitive market as well as build the bridges of opportunities that our young people in both the countries want so much. With 10 million Indians entering the work force each year, the Indian government clearly understands this imperatives,” the US leader said.

Kerry and Swaraj also discussed initiatives in various key areas as part of the agenda for the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama in September in Washington. “In weeks to come, we will take series of steps to pave the way for PM Narendra Modi’s visit to US in September,” Kerry, who will call on Modi tomorrow, said and noted that the moment has never been “more ripe” to deliver on incredible possibilities of relationship between the two nations.

“Now that India’s new government has won a historic mandate to deliver change and reform, together we have a singular opportunity to help India, to meet the challenge, to boost two-way trade, to support South Asia’s connectivity, to develop cleaner energy, to deepen our security partnership in Asia Pacific,” the visiting leader said. .

Asserting that the US and India can and should be indispensable partners of 21st Century, Kerry said,”Of course delivering..is the key. The words are easy. Its the actions we need to take. They will really define the relationship in the days ahead” and noted Modi government’s plan for ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas'(together with all, development for all)”.

On her part, Swaraj asserted that there was no “ambiguity” on the term strategic partnership with the US as the foreign policy don’t change with change in the government.
The leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to the full implementation of the India?US civil nuclear agreement and welcomed the Authorization to Proceed provided to Westinghouse to implement the pre-Early Works Agreement with NPCIL as of September 2013.

Kerry and Swaraj also discussed other international issues including climate change, security situation in Afghanistan and conflict in Gaza. Asked about India’s position on Gaza conflict, Swaraj in a short reply said India respects the cause of Palestine and was friendly with Israel. Swaraj and Kerry reiterated their condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and reaffirmed their commitment to eliminating terrorist safe havens and infrastructure, and disrupting terrorist networks including Al-Qa’ida and the Lashkar-e-Taiba.

“The leaders called for Pakistan to work toward bringing the perpetrators of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks to justice,” a joint statement issued after the Dialogue said. The two leaders reaffirmed their support for a unified, independent and sovereign Afghanistan and expressed admiration for the determination of the Afghan people to exercise their democratic right to vote despite the significant threat from terrorist elements.

Expressing concern at the steep escalation of violence in Gaza and Israel, resulting in the loss of numerous civilian lives, they called upon both sides to exercise maximum restraint and expressed hope that necessary conditions will be created for a sustainable ceasefire and the early resumption of peace talks, towards a comprehensive resolution of the Middle East issue.

Kerry and Swaraj reaffirmed their commitment to ensure that the United Nations Security Council continues to effectively play its role in maintaining international peace and security as envisioned in the UN Charter. The visiting leader reaffirmed that the US looks forward to a reformed UN Security Council that includes India as a permanent member.

The two leaders intend to upgrade the existing dialogue on Peacekeeping into a broader dialogue on UN issues, the first round of which India offered to host prior to the UN General Assembly session in September, the statement said. Noting that India and the US were “two confident nations” which have same core values, Kerry said the two countries have responsibility to ensure welfare of its citizens irrespective of their background.

“From women’s right to minority rights there is room to go further for both of us. We must also speak in a common voice that violence against women in any shape and form is violence against our deep core value,” Kerry said. Earlier in the day, Kerry along with Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker met Finance and Defence Minister Arun Jaitley.

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