New York: The US has "very high hopes" for the vision and ambition laid out by Prime Minister Narendra Modi but the two sides should "temper" themselves on the timeframe by which the expectations from the new Indian government are met, a top American official has said.
"...These are also early days in the new (Modi) administration, all of us need to be cognizant that this is an administration that is two and a half months old. Let us both set high expectations but also temper ourselves on the timeframe within which we want to see those expectations met,"
Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Nisha Desai Biswal, told reporters here yesterday at the Foreign Press Centre on 'US Foreign Policy Priorities in India'.
She said, some important steps have been taken by the Modi administration and "some important signals" sent but these are just the "first steps".
"The government needs to have a firm vision and a path forward but the rest of us need to have some patience with which we engage this new government on that path and certainly we have very high hopes for the direction, vision, ambition that Prime Minister Modi has laid out and what that means for India as well as for the India-US partnership," she said.
Biswal was responding to questions on what expectations does the US have as Modi heads to Washington later next month for the Summit meeting with US President Barack Obama.
Biswal was asked if Obama's invitation to Modi to visit the White House after years of a visa ban implies that the US does not have any concerns about the Indian Prime Minister's "human rights record".
"What should be taken away from the President's invitation to Modi is our great hope, anticipation and expectation of this partnership with this government and with this leader on the basis of the very important vision that he has put forward for India, a vision that is on inclusive and sustainable economic growth and prosperity for all Indians," she said.
Biswal added that Modi has "gone a step further" and talked about a "shared prosperity" for the entire region that helps and benefits the economies not only of India, but of its neighbours too.
"This is certainly something that President Obama has said that he very much supports and wants to strengthen and partner on. We are looking forward and not backward and we are engaging on that basis and we see an opportunity to engage with India in a very broad and wholesome way," she said.
On hopes of any progress being made in the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal during Modi's visit to Washington, Biswal said she is not anticipating that something would necessarily happen on that front in time for Modi's visit.
On Afghanistan, Biswal said that stability, security and prosperity of the war-torn country holds vital interest to India.
"India has been an important partner and contributor particularly on the economic assistance (in Afghanistan) and we want to work with them on that," she said.
She said the US also looks forward to seeing how it can expand and build upon defence trade and technology initiative with India.
On the economic front, Biswal added that the US is ready to partner with India to facilitate as much collaboration as it can.
"For India to be able to attract the kind of investment and cutting edge modern technology, it needs to address certain issues that inhibit that," she said.
Biswal added that American companies are very eager to invest in India and they have some of the same concerns that Indian companies have with regard to protection of intellectual property, particularly as India becomes more "innovator and originator of content".
"Having the appropriate safeguards will allow innovation economy to take root and flourish. We want to do that in the spirit of partnership and we are confident that we will be able to make progress in that area," she said.
On whether the US would exert influence on India to curtail its economic activities with Russia, Biswal said the US wants India to have an "important, constructive and positive relationship" with Russia and China.
"We do not see this as a zero sum. We think India will make its own choices based on its own interests...we will continue to make the case that we think Russia needs to abide by international norms and standards in terms of how it conducts itself with respect to Ukraine," she said.
