    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2001, Book II)]
    [November 9, 2001]
    [Pages 1369-1370]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Joint Statement Between the United States of America and the Republic of
    India
    November 9, 2001

        Since September 11, the people of the United States and India have
    been united as never before in the fight against terrorism. In so doing,
    they have together reaffirmed the enduring ties between both nations,
    and the importance of further transforming the U.S.-India relationship.
    In their meeting, President Bush and Prime Minister Vajpayee discussed ways to accelerate progress towards
    these goals.
        They noted that both countries are targets of terrorism, as seen in
    the barbaric attacks on September 11 in the United States and on October
    1 in Kashmir. They agreed that terrorism threatens not only the security
    of the United States and India, but also our efforts to build freedom,
    democracy and international security and stability around the world. As
    leaders of the two largest multi-cultural democracies, they emphasized
    that those who equate terrorism with any religion are as wrong as those
    who invoke religion to commit, support or justify terrorist acts.
        The two leaders remembered the
    victims of the many nationalities in the terrorist attacks on September
    11 and agreed that all appropriate steps should be taken to bring the
    perpetrators to justice, while protecting the lives and welfare of the
    people affected by these efforts. They noted that both countries are
    providing humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan.
        They affirmed the current campaign against the Al-Qaida network and
    the Taliban in Afghanistan is an important step in a global war against
    terrorism and its sponsors everywhere in the world. They recognized that
    the international community will have to wage a long and multi-faceted
    struggle against terrorism, with patience, determination and unwavering
    focus. They emphasized that there is only one choice and only one
    outcome: terrorism must be fought and it shall be defeated.
        President Bush and Prime Minister Vajpayee agreed that success in this endeavor would depend
    heavily on building international cooperation and securing the
    unambiguous commitment of all nations to share information and
    intelligence on terrorists and deny them support, sustenance and safe
    havens. The two leaders agreed to consult regularly on the future of
    Afghanistan. They welcomed the measures outlined in the UNSCR 1373 and
    called on all nations to ratify and implement existing UN Conventions on
    counter-terrorism. They expressed support for India's draft
    Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism and urged the
    resolution of outstanding issues to enable its adoption by the UNGA.
        The leaders of the two countries
    expressed satisfaction with the progress made in India-U.S. cooperation
    on counter-terrorism, including the Joint Working Group on Counter-
    Terrorism established in January 2000. They reaffirmed their personal

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    commitment, and that of their two countries, to intensify bilateral
    cooperation as a critical element in the global effort against
    terrorism. They also announced the establishment of a Joint Cyber-
    Terrorism Initiative.
        Prime Minister Vajpayee and
    President Bush agreed that developments in Afghanistan have a direct
    impact on its entire neighborhood. They emphasized that the Taliban and
    the Al-Qaida network have turned Afghanistan into a center of terrorism,
    extremism, and drug trafficking and have brought immense suffering to
    the Afghan people. They agreed that a peaceful, progressive, and
    prosperous Afghanistan requires a broad-based government, representing
    all ethnic and religious groups, friendly with all countries in the
    neighborhood and beyond, as well as sizeable and sustained international
    assistance for Afghanistan's economic reconstruction and development.
    The two leaders committed themselves to work together, and in
    partnership with other countries and international organizations, to
    achieve these goals.
        President Bush and Prime Minister Vajpayee also affirmed their commitment to complete the process
    of qualitatively transforming U.S.-India relations in pursuit of their
    many common goals in Asia and beyond. They agreed that U.S.-India
    relations draw strength from the broad political support that exits in
    both democracies. They expressed satisfaction at the high level of
    engagement and progress in bilateral cooperation over the last ten
    months. In particular, they reiterated their support for the wide-
    ranging bilateral dialogue architecture established in March 2000. The
    two leaders agreed that recent lifting of economic, military and
    technology restrictions on India provides a further impetus to bilateral
    relations. They welcomed the resumption of the bilateral Defense Policy
    Group as a step towards increasing exchanges and technical cooperation
    in the defense and security areas. They noted that India's interest in
    purchasing arms from the United States would be discussed at the Defense
    Policy Group meetings in December 2001. The two leaders agreed to pursue
    policies to enhance the mutually beneficial--and growing--economic and
    commercial ties between their nations. They also agreed to expand the
    Bilateral Economic Dialogue and to broaden dialogue and cooperation in
    the areas of energy, the environment, health, space, export controls,
    science and technology, including biotechnology and information
    technology. They agreed that the two sides should discuss ways to
    stimulate bilateral high technology commerce. They also agreed that we
    should begin a dialogue between the two governments with a view towards
    evaluating the processes by which we transfer dual-use and military
    items, with a view towards greater transparency and efficiency. In
    addition, the United States and India have a mutual interest in space
    and have agreed to initiate discussions on civil space cooperation.
        The two leaders expressed
    confidence that enhancing their cooperation in all these areas will go
    far towards building a long-term partnership between the United States
    and India that will greatly benefit citizens of both their nations.

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