US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday enumerated a wide array of areas of cooperation between India and the US, which taken together could amounts to an initiative for a major upgradation the relations between the two countries.
Promising to take India-US ties to a third phase during her talks with Indian leaders on Monday she called for more cooperation in areas ranging from climate change and agriculture to counter-terrorism.
Reinforcing her message to Pakistan to act firmly to bring the perpetrators of the 26/11 attacks to justice, Clinton asked Islamabad to ensure that the Mumbai attackers face their "hour of reckoning" while she also noted Islamabad's "evolving commitment" to fight terrorism.
Warning of the threat posed by a global terrorist syndicate comprising Al Qaeda, the Taliban and assorted militant outfits in Pakistan, she underlined the growing coordination between democracies like India and the US to share information to combat terrorism.
"We are increasingly coordinating with our counterparts in India about sharing information in a way that each gets sufficient information," Clinton said.
Her tough message to Pakistan is sure to warm her Indian hosts when she meets Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna on Monday.
The talks will focus on forging "a comprehensive six-pillared strategic dialogue" that will mark what she has called 'version 3.0' of the India-US relationship.
Besides civil nuclear cooperation, the two sides are expected to discuss economic and defence ties and invigorating cooperation in fields of clean energy, agriculture, science and education.
The Mumbai attacks and their aftermath, the situation in the Afghanistan-Pakistan ('AfPak') region and India's likely role in it will also figure in the discussions.
A slew of accords, including an end-use monitoring agreement that will spur high-end arms sales between them and another one on civilian space launches, is expected to be signed Monday after talks.
India is also likely to announce two sites for US nuclear reactors in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, the first concrete step to implement the civilian nuclear deal between the two countries.
Climate change
Dressed in a turquoise-blue business suit, Clinton arrived in the Indian capital from Mumbai in her special aircraft amid tight security and headed straight to the ITC Green Centre in Gurgaon, a satellite town adjoining Delhi where she addressed a conference on climate change.
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