Indo-US partnership can have big impact on global peace:Envoys

Describing India and the US as "indispensable partners" in the Asia-Pacific and the Indian Ocean Region, the envoys of the two countries have said the bilateral collaboration can have a big impact on global peace and prosperity in the 21st century.

"In a world filled with complex security and economic challenges, this relationship matters more now than ever before," Indian Ambassador to the US Arun K Singh and and his American counterpart Richard Rahul Verma wrote in a joint op-ed piece in The Huffington Post.

"That's why our leaders have aggressively set out to increase our defence cooperation, create greater economic opportunities for our people and work more closely on climate change. Our national interests are converging on the vital issues of the day," they wrote in the op-ed published yesterday.

"We are stronger when we work together, and our close collaboration in the years ahead can have a big impact upon global peace and prosperity," the two top diplomats said.
The two countries have become indispensable partners in the Asia-Pacific and the Indian Ocean Region, whether the navies are conducting anti-piracy patrols off the Horn of Africa, responding to the latest humanitarian crises or participating in an ever-growing array of military exercises, Singh and Verma wrote.

During his visit to the US in September, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama had also written a joint op-ed piece in The Washington Post, pledging themselves as global partners.

Singh and Verma said that as the US-India ties continue to blossom, the true test of the partnership for the 21st century will be "how it benefits not just our common citizens but also the global commons".

Terming India and the US as "natural partners", Singh and Verma said the two counties are "indeed on a course to be best partners". They said the historic visits of Prime Minister Modi to the US and US President Obama to India helped the relationship soar, moving us past old disagreements and paving the way forward for even more ambitious new collaborations.

Modi and Obama's vision of a rules-based international order - where disputes between states are settled peacefully, trade flows more freely and clean energy reduces the threat of climate change - offers the best promise of a more peaceful, prosperous and sustainable century than the past one, they said.

Since Obama's January visit to India, the ambassadors said, the two countries are now working on new initiatives from the outer reaches of space to the depths of the oceans.

"We have reenergised some 30 different dialogues and working groups to ensure close collaboration on issues like cyber and homeland security, women's empowerment, counter- terrorism cooperation and global health security," they said.