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Indo-US pact to spell out future of relationship

Amberish K Diwanji

US President Bill Clinton and Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee will sign an agreement show the future direction of Indo-United States relations on Tuesday, March 21.

"The document will be a statement of vision for the two countries providing the principles of the relation between the two countries," said ministry of external affairs spokesperson R S Jassal.

This deal will be signed after the Clinton and Vajayee hold their talks at Hyderabad House (the venue for summit meetings) in New Delhi. The media will be present at the signing ceremony.

Besides this main agreement, signed at the summit level, two more agreements are to be signed between India and the United States, which will be signed at the Indian ministerial level. The second Indo-US deal is an agreement on the establishment of a US Science and Technology Forum.

The decision to set up such a forum was taken last year, when the terms and conditions of the proposal were discussed.

"The aim of this forum is to depart from earlier practise of state sponsored science and technology meets. Believe it or not, but the real aim of this forum is to promote people-to-people contact, impart technology transfer, research and development, besides the electronic dissemination of Indo-US ties on science and technology," said the MEA spokesperson.

Jassal was at pains to explain that 'transfer of technology' was only that technology that fell within the ambit of the forum. The governing council of the forum will have seven 'eminent' members from each side.

The spokesperson added that the United States Education Foundation of India had been set up in 1987 to promote educational exchange between the US and India. USEFI has been instrumental in helping thousands of Indian students get admission in US universities. The US S&T Forum will seek to promote similar exchange in this area.

The third agreement between the world's two largest democracies will be a statement on promoting clean energy and environmental protection.

The US is keen to champion the cause of environmentally clean energy sources even as the demand for energy worldwide rises as the GDP of various countries continue to rise. Studies have pointed out that for every one per cent growth of GDP, the energy growth is three per cent!

The MEA spokesperson said that in October 1999, when US Energy Secretary Bill Richardson was visiting India, the two countries has set up a joint consulting group to promote clean energy and environmental protection.

This particular agreement will be signed in Agra, after US President Bill Clinton makes a speech on environmental protection near the Taj Mahal.

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