good afternoon everybody if you'd be kind enough to take your seats. good afternoon everybody, for those of you joining us im danielle pletka, vice president for foreign studies at aei. one of the nicest things about a good event at aei is that daschle is hard to get people to sit down because they are all enjoying the company of the other folks in the audience and it tells me that we have not only wonderful speakers, but an interesting and lively audiences that have a lot in common. that's one of the hallmarks of success for any and so thank you all for being here.

it's my great pleasure to wealth, for the first time at aei, bob blake, who is the assistant secretary of state for sourth and central asian affairs. ambassador blake was ambassador of sir lanka prior to being confirmed as assistant secretary. pitons and a very exciting time. i think that's probably one of my under statements in regional affairs, not just because our burgeoning and import relationship with india which we have talked about so much today but because also under his 80r is pakistan the challenge of a no answer and proportion, afghanistan which is also an exciting important challenge and a front on the war on terrorism that is being fought aggressively, in addition there's a lot of changes inside the administration as he is i'm sure working closely with

ambassador holbrooke who is charged with issues in that area as well, and while i don't envy him any other bureaucracy on the seventh floor of the department of state, i am very happy to welcome him to say a few words about the issues at hand. and to tell the audience and that ambassador blake has agreed to take 10 minutes of questions at the end, no matter long -- no matter how long his disco so i'm grateful for that. ambassador blake, please thank you. [applause] >> well, thank you very much, danielle pletka, for that kind introduction and a really is a pleasure for me to be here today at american enterprise institute. i have heard a lot about aei over the years and certainly read many great studies, and i

have served for many administrations on both sides of the aisle so we really admire a lot of the work that is done here and appreciate, of course, the invitation. let me first correct a little of what she said. pakistan and afghanistan is not by a zero our ambassador holbrooke will have my head if i say that publicly but i work closely with him but he's definitely in charge of that policy in afghanistan and pakistan. i know i am the book and in this particular day that you started the conversation with ambassador sharper earlier today and i did not hear or she had today but generally speaking we are close together. in fact, have some time suspiciously so so hopefully there will at least be some daylight between what we say. the timing of today's program i think is very opportune. in a few weeks as you know secretaries' day clinton will be going out to india to an ounce whether our indian friends, new

strategic partnership between our two great nations. you're program is also an opportunity for me to tell you that secretary clinton's visit will answer some of those who are whispering that president obama's new comprehensive strategy in afghanistan and pakistan has somehow caused a diminution of india's importance to the united states. and i am here to tell you that that is absolutely not the case. on the contrary, this is a time of great optimism and of great promise in our relations with india. our two countries agree that we had to await the outcome of india's recent elections before charting a new course in our own relations. in its strong showing of the congress party prime minister singh the new mandate and the president obama support strong support for strengthening ties

with india, we think open the way for a newly invigorated partnership. so in my remarks today i will first two briefly review the recent history of the u.s. india relationship and how we got to where we are today. second, i will discuss our plans for a robust engagement with india. and then i will conclude by is an essential question of your program today which is why india and are the u.s. and india really natural allies? sulphur is how we got here and i won't spend too much time on this because i know all of you are very familiar with it. secretary of state clinton give a major speech on india about a week and a half ago at the u.s. india business council entitled to u.s. india, three-point know, the future of u.s. india relations. and she described the three phases and relations. the first, 1.0 lasted from india's independence to the end

of the cold war and was characterized by many missed opportunities between our two countries. the 2.0 chapter opened with a ground-breaking talks between the end their bitter secretary of state strobe talbott and the minister josh saying it. these open the door for president clinton, a landmark visit in the year 2000, and a significant progress in that was achieved during the bush administration highlighted by, of course, the signing of the civil nuclear deal. that agreement turned a source of friction between our two countries into a wide range of opportunities. trade and job creation, helping india to meet its growing energy needs, as strengthening jointly the global non-proliferation regime. as the deputy chief of mission at the u.s. embassy in new delhi

from 2003 to 2006, i was privileged to see firsthand the positive a fact that these important steps had in breaking down barriers between our two societies and between the two governments. and convincing skeptics of the promise of relations between our two countries. which brings us to india 3.0. president obama and secretary clinton has repeatedly stated their deep commitment to strengthening our partnership with india. and save you any as one of the key countries in a 21st century that will help shape the world of the 21st century. and let me describe briefly how we plan to work together to expand our cooperation on a wide range of bilateral and global issues. the first is a global security.

the mumbai attacks last november reminded us all that the united states and india face a common threat of terrorism and must work together and with nations around the world to combat this danger. the u.s. response to the mumbai attacks reinforced the unprecedented cooperation that has taken place between the u.s. and india on terra financing, law enforcement, training, and information sharing. in recent months the director of the federal bureau of investigation, the director of the cia, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, and national security adviser general jones all had visited india to underline and strengthen that cooperation. i might add that general jones conveyed an invitation to prime minister singh to visit later this fall to washington, that is in addition to the g20 meeting that will take place in

pittsburgh. still on the theme of security cooperation, we think there is room for expanded defense cooperation between the united states and india. the as india's economy grows, it is sought to modernize its military and u.s. technology can and should be a part of that modernization of. we are working hard to conclude bilateral agreements such as the monitoring agreement that will help to ensure that defense sales and military to military cooperation can continue their positive trajectory. more broadly as you have discussed this morning, economic and trade cooperation is one of the fastest-growing segments of the u.s. india relationship. india has whether the global downturn, better than most and is projected to grow at an enviable 6% this year. although the size of the indian economy is still small relative

to that of the united states, its continued growth at a time when other countries are stagnating will help the global recovery. one area of immediate promise for u.s. firms is civil nuclear cooperation. out in may the indian government said carter agreement with the international atomic energy agency entered into force and india subsequently signed its additional protocol. india was still file a declaration of safeguard facilities with the iaea in order to complete the steps necessary for nuclear regulatory commission licensing. we hope that the government of india will soon be in a position to announce to nuclear reactor park sites that will be designated for u.s. firms. and we also hope and will approve liability protections for u.s. companies by adhering to the convention on supplementary compensation for

nuclear damages. these steps would open the way for billions of dollars in new civil nuclear trade and investment. on the broader trade front while india still maintain significant barriers to u.s. trade and investment, u.s. india trade nonetheless has doubled in just the last five years. our trade deficit with india has narrowed and bilateral investment flows have also doubled. india also is a growing player inside the united states. a new study by the federation of indian chambers of commerce and industry says that indian companies acquired or invested it in 143 u.s. companies over the last two years, creating over 30,000 new jobs. as we look ahead, both countries want to dismantle barriers to trade and investment. president obama has been clear that the united states will not use the global financial crisis as an excuse to fall back on

protectionism. the u.s. was encouraged by the early visit to washington of india's new minister of commerce and industry anand sharma. e and commerce secretary gary lauck affirmed their attention to form strong bilateral ties. one early sign of that is our intention to begin negotiations on a bilateral investment treaty per gal and of the revenue picture. another is our plan to reinvigorate the ceo forum and hold our first meeting on the margins of the u.n. general assembly this year in september. secretary clinton described human development, especially education and women's empowerment as another area that wilson keep -- seek cooperation between the united states in india. i just finished an excellent book by emphasis founder

entitled: imagining india, the idea of a renewed nation. he says the new india as united by a respect for achievement, returning for a better life and an unprecedented believe that such a life is possible regardless of the cast or social and economic status. in short, the expectations of young indians are hyperion. he eloquently describes why analysts from goldman sachs to mckinsey are so optimistic about india's future. he states that all the working age population of other major economies will be falling, india will have an additional 47 million workers in 2020. almost equal to the world shortfall at that time. he further estimates that india's quote, demographic dividend, will peak at 2035 by

which time india will have added an additional to have your 70 million persons to is working age population paragon. these legions of young indians and transfers work -- workforce for the first time represent an immense economic opportunity for india and his partners. but only if they receive the education and training they will need to compete in india's globalizing economy. right now the united states is educating over 90,000 indian students in u.s. universities. but america's educational institutions would like to do more, work in india to reach the vast majority who cannot go to the united states for an education. we plan to build on the goals of the government -- indian government to boost literacy, expand vocational training, and improve access to higher education. u.s. universities and professors have much to share with india.

we have particularly welcome to the ambitious plans at india's new minister for human resource development and plans for educational reform. in the area of women's empowerment there is much we can learn from india, a country with a female president, a female speaker of the house, and a female head of its largest political party. secretary clinton will describe in more detail during her trip our plans to expand cooperation in that area. a forthcoming have intensified bilateral cooperation will be to mobilize our to knowledge society is to expand the frontiers of human knowledge and use that knowledge to improve people's lives. in science and technology cooperation has always been important part of u.s. india cooperation. but we must do more to harness the brainpower of our scientific and research communities and

their private-sector counterparts to improve energy efficiency, to find low-cost health care solutions, and enhance and food security. agriculture is a very high priority for prime minister saying in an area where we also hope to expand cooperation. to quote him again, the hold of middleman has blocked the the rise of open networks, special interests have blocked reforms. the prime minister and his team are well aware of these challenges and the united states is ready to help with technology, research and by sharing best practices in the cost of farm to fork supply food chain. ladies and gentlemen, president obama neely capture the scope and breadth of our relations when he said, our rapidly growing in deepening friendship with india offers benefits to the world citizens as our

scientists all environmental challenges together, our doctors discover new medicines, our engineers advance our societies, are on edge penurious generate prosperity, our educators laid the foundation for our future generations, and our governments work together to advance peace, prosperity and stability and around the globe. let me turn briefly to that latter statement about our plans to collaborate on global challenges. in ambassador schafer who most of dinow who has deep experience in india recently remarked that the u.s. relationship has been largely bilateral sometimes regional but rarely global. our two countries want to change that and take our relationship global. nonproliferation of marks the one area that you would have thought possible even a few years ago. earlier this year president obama announced in a prague his

vision of a nuclear-free world. also earlier this year in this special envoy told an audience at the brookings him that the civil nuclear initiative has enabled india to look quote, proactively and not defensively at a new global agenda for nuclear non proliferation and nuclear disarmament. we have already seen signs of this new outlook. in recent weeks in csi is iaea additional protocol, foreign minister chris not condemned the north korean nuclear tests and india became only the third state to completely destroy its chemical weapons stockpile. climate change is another thorny issue where there is room to make progress. the united states views india as a partner in confronting the international challenges of clean development, energy and climate change.

as president obama has indicated, we agree that actions to address climate change must also respect india as urgent development needs. but if you take a step back from a climate change negotiating table and think of india's development path as a whole, there's tremendous potential. india does not need to follow the same old and fossil fuel development path. as with the extraordinary growth of mobile telephones in india, india can leapfrog to 21st century clean energy technology. already the united states and india are working together to promote more energy-efficient buildings, clean coal technology, and of the use of solar, wind, hydro and other renewable energy technologies. we plan to do much more. so to conclude my remarks, let me just turn to the question posed by the seminar -- i think the u.s. and india increasingly

are natural allies. we share a growing convergence of our values, and our interests, our peoples, and our governments are engaged together and virtually every field of human endeavor. now after more than a decade of cooperation it is clear there are strong and bipartisan support in both countries to cooperate even more closely. more important however are the strong people to people ties. prime minister singh frequently tells audiences that almost every middle-class family in india has some relative who is studying in the united states are working in the united states or has had some other kind of experience in the united states. such ties provide the mutual understanding and the ballast that will enable continued progress in the u.s.-india relations. during my recent trip to india

with undersecretary burns where we were preparing for the secretary's trip later in july, we heard from indian interlocutors that the sky is the lament to it the u.s. india relationship. and actually with our growing space cooperation we have to extend that particular boundary of cooperation. in this stage is bare for sat and the curtain is rising on a u.s. india 3.0. our governments and our peoples together will help shape the course of the 21st century. so thank you very much again for this kind invitation and i will be happy to take a few questions. [applause] >> we will just abide by the rules, everybody knows what they are. raise your hand, wait for the microphone, identify yourself. what we take some in the back for a change and make sure to keep your question brief. >> please no questions about down terrorists.

[laughter] >> rebecca cooper from the nuclear nobel monitor -- i wanted to ask about the prospects for the second part of the 123 agreement implemented of processing agreement. ii understand that india was also hoping to do this after their election, can you talk about the process and how you feel that is good two go in congress? >> those talks are going to start later this summer and so we're on track in that regard. >> freelance correspondent. you mentioned and out of this economy trade corporation -- all like to ask you as the coming wto talks, what is in the u.s.

strategy and also everything is politics. how is the u.s. willing to get it down? and you mentioned about the climate change. and climate change basically, to deal with that is trained technology and you have mentioned about some conversion with india. and basically how is the u.s. going to globalize u.s. train technology? thank you. >> purse of all with respect to of our new trade policy i don't want to wade into that. you have to ask ron kirk, the new head of the u.s. trade representative who will -- who has had already productive talks with anand sharma. we have already seen a greater willingness not to engage on the part of the minister and we

encourage that and look forward to working with him and his new colleagues. on the question of climate change as i said we have already been engaged with the indians for many years on developing nuclear energy technologies of various kinds and we think that there is a great opportunity now to expand that cooperation between our two countries and the energy dialogue has been an important part of our relationship and i want to not only continue that but expanded into this new area to put an even greater focus on clean energy. >> you said that india was the third state to completely destroy its chemical stockpile, what were the other two countries that have done so? [laughter] >> i knew you were going to do that. i don't know, i don't know the answer to that question we will have to get back to you on accurate give me your card and i

would be glad to find out for you. >> david good. bob, secretary clinton in his speech last week said that india is india and other nations play an expanded role in resolving international security challenges. we should be prepared to adapt the architecture of international as additions to revive their new responsibilities. is there anything specific in mind that the united states support expansion of security council for instance? >> we are engaged now in a review on the broad issue of human security council reform which includes the thorny issue of new permanent members and things like that, so i don't have any news for you on that yet, but in general as the secretary said we do believe that international institutions as a group should reflect the new wage in the new importance of countries like india.

>> malcolm brown and i ask this on behalf of times out of india. the you were basically a broadly on the same page but there were some areas of potential difference. on the security front for instance there is a concern evidently that some of the support being provided to pakistan is not directly targeting the insurgency and has capabilities and other directions. in all so it seems washington is in a position to apply greater leverage in pakistan to address the mumbai attacks and other terrorist concerns that india has. at what is your take on those points? >> well, i would say that first of all we are encouraged by steps that the pakistan government has taken inside pakistan in this what two bally

-- in this what valley to face challenges that pakistan faces and we're also infers that those steps have won popular support among the pakistan people. because we believe that that support will provide the basis for continued action to ensure that the soil of pakistan is not used as a base from which militants and extremists can attack neighboring countries. >> can i ask a question? >> sure. >> you don't have to identify yourself. >> once again, you didn't mention although the administration has made clear that there the treaty will be on their front burner perhaps after starts but certainly on the front burner. and this is traditionally been an object of some disagreement between us and the indians. in light of the fact that the likelihood of this cdbg entry into force as is quite low given

other countries that need to end will not sign it, i wonder whether, how you see the prospects for it and whether you think it is a possible problem and i also wonder if you in that same vein or just expand on the question of the convention supplementary compensation and whether you think we are going to be some movement in that area? >> on the first question of ctbt, i don't want to get onto that. i'm going to strangle you now -- because we're going to have quite tambrands of talks between our two sides on this very important questions, but i'll come back to what i said during my speech that we think there is an opportunity to work more closely with our friends in the indian government on the wide range of nonproliferation issues paced by the globe now. so we are encouraged by that prospect.

we have a new undersecretary who is about to take office as well as bob einhorn has extensive experience working in india so we look for to working with their indian counterparts on these issues. what was your second question? >> the convention on supplementary compensation. >> on that, it is a matter now of most of the workers i understand in india is done and it is a matter of getting parliamentary ratification approval so i think we are most of the way there. but i will leave the details of that to our indian friends to describe. >> i probably haunt the microphone for the last question so thank you for your time and generosities and we will see you again soon. can i thank you also very much. [applause] >> let me say a word of thank-you to the scholar francis conference so ably and to all of our other guests who are with us today. our evidence is now closed, thank you very