NEW YORK: Mr. George Bush, USS. President elect said that Indo-US ties were no longer “characterized by strong swings from warmth to coolness” and had improved substantially from the “low level” in 1980,
Affirming that the Reagan administration views its relationship with India ‘yet positively’, Mr. Bush said that as Vice President he had been personally involved in working to improve the relationship from the low level at which we found it in 1980.”
“The relationship is no longer characterized by strong swings from warmth to coolness. Instead we have worked together with India to build on areas in which we have honest differences of opinion or differing interests. This strategy has had substantial successes.” he said in answers to questions from a reporter.
Listing the successes in Indo-US ties in recent years, Mr. Bush said that close personal relations existed between the leaders of the two countries, “I have visited India and had the pleasure of accompanying the Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on a trip to Texas during his 1985 trip,” he added.
“The US is no longer helping India get by, but is helping India to thrive and to demonstrate its capacity to develop technological and military leadership just as it succeeded in the green revolution.”
Bilateral trade, Mr. Bush said was at an all-time high and was improving. US ventures in India are increasing rapidly and Indian investment in the US is beginning to reach substantial proportions, he added.
Regarding U.S. Pakistan relations, Mr. Bush said that Washington’s policy towards Islamabad is part of its long term objectives for the Indian sub-continent.
Pakistan played a central role in getting the Soviet Union out of Afghanistan by acting as a sanctuary for refugees and by supporting the Afghan people, he added.
“India” Mr. Bush said, “may not agree with us on this issue, but we have made no secret of our position, and neither this nor any other difference of view has been allowed by either India or the US to interfere in the steady improvements in our relationship.”
A commitment to the territorial integrity of states, a continued effort to control and limit illegal activities, particularly those involving drugs and terrorism, and a program of nuclear non-proliferation agreed to by India, Pakistan and other potential nuclear powers were other long term objectives outlined by Mr. Bush.
Article extracted from this publication >> November 18, 1988
