Rise of India has been meteoric, says Biden

Noting that the Indo-US nuclear deal was a major step forward in strengthening relationship between the two countries, United States Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday termed 'meteoric' the rise of India as a global leader.

"The rise of India as a leader within the community of nations has been meteoric and historic, and it has been profoundly, profoundly welcome," the Vice President, said in his address at a State Department luncheon hosted in honour of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

"Secretary (of State Hillary) Clinton and I cannot overstate how important we think that relationship is and how warmly we welcome the leadership of India," he said.

Biden, who as the Senator had played a key role in the passage of the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal, said US Presidents -- beginning with President Bill Clinton, continuing with President George W Bush and now with President Barack Obama -- have worked very hard and not only from the head but from the heart to strengthen this relationship.

"The historic agreement on peaceful nuclear cooperation was a major step forward, a major step forward, in US-Indian relations and are now closer than ever before," Biden said.

The US Vice President appreciated the leadership shown by the Prime Minister in the nuclear deal. "You took some real risks. You had to exercise genuine leadership in a divided government to push forward that agreement. And for that, I want to as a plain old politician compliment you for your courage and skill, in which you pursued that," he said amidst a round of applause.

"It's been said that the US-India relationship is a bond between, as the secretary said, the oldest and the largest democracies in the world. In the 21st century, as the world becomes smaller, the bonds between us grow stronger," he said.

"Those bonds are built on the shared traditions which you mentioned today with the President (Barack Obama), Mr Prime Minister, of pluralism, tolerance, diversity and democracy," he said, adding, "For years, our relationship grew stronger, its focus remained narrow: how to contend with the issues between us. Well, increasingly now we recognise our partnership and expand it to how we can deal with the relationships that both of us together can make a positive impact on and influence the world."

Referring to the strategic dialogue launched by Clinton and her Indian counterpart S M Krishna, the Vice President said, "More than ever before, the United States and India together, together, not only are but have an obligation to make a global impact."

"These are not easy days, and this is coming up on an anniversary of a very sad event in your country, the terrorist attack in Mumbai. No one need tell you, Indian population or India leadership, that we have a common concern about terrorism in the world," he said.

Image: US Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton welcome Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the State Department luncheon in Washington, DC.

Photograph: Paresh Gandhi

Text: Lalit K Jha in Washington, DC for PTI