Indo-US ties are now dynamic, matured: Sharma

New York, Sep 20: Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anand Sharma has stated that relations between India and the United States have acquired maturity and been infused with dynamism.

''We were estranged democracies for decades. There's a historic embrace between the largest democracies,''Mr Sharma told a meeting organised last night at the Asia Society here.

With the end of the Cold War, the bilateral relations became closer. Economic ties flourished and two-way trade is now estimated at 26 billion dollars annually. As the Indian economy is growing tremendously over the past few years, the country was in need of energy resources.

New Delhi and Washington signed a nuclear-energy cooperation deal in July when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited the US.

''It's not only in the interests of both India and the US, but also the entire world,'' Mr Sharma said.

Alluding to critics on the alleged pro-American policies of the Indian government, the minister said, ''Independent foreign policy shouldn't mean that we should disagree and distrust on everything.

It (the relationship) is multi-sectoral, dimensional.'' On global terrorism, he pointed out that India has proposed a global convention and hoped there would be positive outcome to that.

Mr Sharma, who took over the current ministerial post in January, spoke at length on a wide range of subjects.

''Every time we-India and Pakistan- make significant progress during bilateral talks, we would face some terrorist act,'' he said.

''We have to pause. We want to carry other countries (in the region) along with.'' Strongly claiming a permanent seat in the UN Security Council, the minister said the global body should reflect the 21st century realities and not the situation prevailing in 1945, when the United Nations was formed.

The subject of the speech was ''Resurgent India and its Engagement with the World.'' Mr Sharma was born and educated in Shimla. He cited the following factors for driving home his point that India is resurgent-the country's profile is growing among developing nations, vibrant secular democracy, two-thirds of Indians under age 35 and phenomenal growth from around 3 per cent (till 1980) to a possible double digit over the next two or three years, two million graduates every year.

He said there was an internal mobilisation of resources worth the equivalent of 150 billion dollars for infrastructure and other projects in the last two years or so. The minister, however, acknowledged their discrepancies and cited the urban-rural gap.

''We've problems. We don't want one India to go ahead and another India to lag behind,'' Mr Sharma noted.

The minister lambasted the scourge of terrorism. ''There's no cause in this world that justifies terror. And it has no religious sanction,'' he stated.

UNI