    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000, Book I)]
    [March 21, 2000]
    [Pages 502-504]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Joint Statement on United States-India Relations: A Vision for the
    21st Century
    March 21, 2000

        At the dawn of a new century, President Clinton and Prime Minister
    Vajpayee resolve to create a closer and
    qualitatively new relationship between the United States and India.
        We are two of the world's largest democracies. We are nations forged
    from many traditions and faiths, proving year after year that diversity
    is our strength. From vastly different origins and experiences, we have
    come to the same conclusions: that freedom and democracy are the
    strongest bases for both peace and prosperity, and that they are
    universal aspirations, constrained neither by culture nor levels of
    economic development.

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        There have been times in the past when our relationship drifted
    without a steady course. As we now look towards the future, we are
    convinced that it is time to chart a new and purposeful direction in our
    relationship.
        Globalization is erasing boundaries and building networks between
    nations and peoples, economies and cultures. The world is increasingly
    coming together around the democratic ideals India and the United States
    have long championed and lived by.
        Together, we represent a fifth of the world's people, more than a
    quarter of the world's economy. We have built creative, entrepreneurial
    societies. We are leaders in the information age. The currents of
    commerce and culture that link our societies run strong and deep. In
    many ways, the character of the 21st century world will depend on the
    success of our cooperation for peace, prosperity, democracy and freedom.
        That presents us with an opportunity, but also a profound
    responsibility to work together. Our partnership of shared ideals leads
    us to seek a natural partnership of shared endeavors.
        In the new century, India and the United States will be partners in
    peace, with a common interest in and complementary responsibility for
    ensuring regional and international security. We will engage in regular
    consultations on, and work together for, strategic stability in Asia and
    beyond. We will bolster joint efforts to counter terrorism and meet
    other challenges to regional peace. We will strengthen the international
    security system, including in the United Nations, and support the United
    Nations in its peacekeeping efforts. We acknowledge that tensions in
    South Asia can only be resolved by the nations of South Asia. India is
    committed to enhancing cooperation, peace and stability in the region.
        India and the United States share a commitment to reducing and
    ultimately eliminating nuclear weapons, but we have not always agreed on
    how to reach this common goal. The United States believes India should
    forgo nuclear weapons. India believes that it needs to maintain a
    credible minimum nuclear deterrent in keeping with its own assessment of
    its security needs. Nonetheless, India and the U.S. are prepared to work
    together to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons and their means
    of delivery. To this end, we will persist with and build upon the
    productive bilateral dialogue already underway.
        We reaffirm our respective voluntary commitments to forgo further
    nuclear explosive tests. We will work together and with others for an
    early commencement of negotiations on a treaty to end the production of
    fissile materials for nuclear weapons. We have both shown strong
    commitments to export controls, and will continue to strengthen them. We
    will work together to prevent the spread of dangerous technologies. We
    are committed to build confidence and reduce the chances of
    miscalculation. We will pursue our security needs in a restrained and
    responsible manner, and will not engage in nuclear and missile arms
    races. We will seek to narrow our differences and increase mutual
    understanding on non-proliferation and security issues. This will help
    us to realize the full potential of Indo-U.S. relations and contribute
    significantly to regional and global security.
        The true measure of our strength lies in the ability of our people
    to shape their destiny and to realize their aspirations for a better
    life. That is why the United States and India are and will be allies in
    the cause of democracy. We will share our experience in nurturing and
    strengthening democratic institutions the world over and fighting the
    challenge to democratic order from forces such as terrorism. We will
    cooperate with others to launch an international Community of
    Democracies this year.
        The United States applauds India's success in opening its economy,
    its achievements in science and technology, its commitment to a new wave
    of economic expansion and reform, and its determination to bring the
    benefits of economic growth to all its people. Our nations pledge to
    reduce impediments to bilateral trade and investment and to expand
    commerce between us, especially in the emerging knowledge-based
    industries and high-technology areas.
        We will work together to preserve stability and growth in the global
    economy as well. And we will join in an unrelenting battle against
    poverty in the world, so that the promise of a new economy is felt
    everywhere and no nation is left behind. That is among the fundamental
    challenges of our time. Opening trade and resisting protectionism are
    the best means for meeting it. We support an open, equitable and
    transparent rule-based multilateral trading system, and we will work
    together to strengthen it. We agree that developed countries should
    embrace policies that offer developing countries the opportunity to
    grow, because growth is the

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    key to rising incomes and rising standards. At the same time, we share
    the conviction that human development also requires empowerment of
    people and availability of basic freedoms.
        As leaders in the forefront of the new high-technology economy, we
    recognize that countries can achieve robust economic growth while
    protecting the environment and taking action to combat climate change.
    We will do our part to meet the global environmental challenges,
    including climate change and the impacts of air and water pollution on
    human health.
        We also pledge a common effort to battle the infectious diseases
    that kill people and retard progress in so many countries. India is at
    the forefront of the global effort that has brought us to the threshold
    of the eradication of polio. With leadership, joint research, and
    application of modern science, we can and will do the same for the
    leading killers of our time, including AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.
        We are proud of the cooperation between Indians and Americans in
    advancing frontiers of knowledge. But even as we unravel the mysteries
    of time and space, we must continue to apply our knowledge to older
    challenges: eradicating human suffering, disease and poverty. In the
    past, our cooperation helped ease mass hunger in the world. In the
    future, it will focus as well on the development of clean energy,
    health, and education.
        Our partnership is not an end in itself, but a means to all these
    ends. And it is reinforced by the ties of scholarship, commerce, and
    increasingly of kinship among our people. The industry, enterprise and
    cultural contributions of Americans of Indian heritage have enriched and
    enlivened both our societies.
        Today, we pledge to deepen the Indian-American partnership in
    tangible ways, always seeking to reconcile our differences through
    dialogue and engagement, always seizing opportunities to advance the
    countless interests we have in common. As a first step, President
    Clinton has invited Prime Minister Vajpayee to visit Washington at a mutually convenient
    opportunity, and the Prime Minister has accepted that invitation.
    Henceforth, the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of
    India should meet regularly to institutionalize our dialogue. We have
    also agreed on and separately outlined an architecture of additional
    high-level consultations, and of joint working groups, across the broad
    spectrum of areas in which we are determined to institutionalize our
    enhanced cooperation. And we will encourage even stronger people-to-
    people ties.
        For India and the United States, this is a day of new beginnings. We
    have before us for the first time in 50 years the possibility to realize
    the full potential of our relationship. We will work to seize that
    chance, for our benefit and all those with whom we share this
    increasingly interdependent world.

    William Jefferson Clinton               Atal Behari Vajpayee
    President                               Prime Minister
    United States of America                India

    Done on March 21, 2000 at New Delhi

    Note: An original was not available for verification of the content of
    this joint statement.