[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 9 (Monday, March 6, 2006)]
[Pages 381-384]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Joint Statement Between the United States of America and India

March 2, 2006

    President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today 
expressed satisfaction with the great progress the United States and 
India have made in advancing our strategic partnership to meet the 
global challenges of the 21st century. Both our countries are linked by 
a deep commitment to freedom and democracy; a celebration of national 
diversity, human creativity and innovation; a quest to expand prosperity 
and economic opportunity worldwide; and a desire to increase mutual 
security against the common threats posed by intolerance, terrorism, and 
the spread of weapons of mass destruction. The successful transformation 
of the U.S.-India relationship will have a decisive and positive 
influence on the future international system as it evolves in this new 
century.
    Reviewing the progress made in deepening the global partnership 
between the United States and India since their Joint Statement of July 
18, 2005, the President and the Prime Minister reaffirm their commitment 
to expand even further the growing ties between their two countries. 
Consistent with this objective, the two leaders wish to highlight 
efforts the United States and India are making together in the following 
areas, where they have:

For Economic Prosperity and Trade

    (1) Agreed to intensify efforts to develop a bilateral business 
climate supportive of trade and investment by:
 1.          Welcoming the report of the U.S.-India CEO Forum, agreeing 
            to consider its recommendations aimed at substantially 
            broadening our bilateral economic relations, and directing 
            the Chairs of the Indo-U.S. Economic Dialogue to follow up 
            expeditiously with the CEO Forum;
 2.          Endorsing the efforts of the U.S.-India Trade Policy Forum 
            to reduce barriers to trade and investment with the goal of 
            doubling bilateral trade in three years;

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 3.          Agreeing to advance mutually beneficial bilateral trade and 
            investment flows by holding a high-level public-private 
            investment summit in 2006, continuing efforts to facilitate 
            and promote foreign direct investment and eliminate 
            impediments to it, and enhancing bilateral consultations on 
            various issues including tariff and non-tariff barriers to 
            trade in goods and services, and preventing the illicit use 
            of the financial system.
    (2) Sought to expand cooperation in agriculture by:
 1.          Launching the Knowledge Initiative on Agriculture with a 
            three-year financial commitment to link our universities, 
            technical institutions, and businesses to support 
            agriculture education, joint research, and capacity building 
            projects including in the area of biotechnology.
 2.          Endorsing an agreed workplan to promote bilateral trade in 
            agriculture through agreements that: lay out a path to open 
            the U.S. market to Indian mangoes, recognize India as having 
            the authority to certify that shipments of Indian products 
            to the United States meet USDA organic standards, and 
            provide for discussions on current regulations affecting 
            trade in fresh fruits and vegetables, poultry and dairy, and 
            almonds.
    (3) Reaffirmed their shared commitment to completing the WTO Doha 
Development Agenda (DDA) before the end of 2006, and agreed to work 
together to help achieve this outcome.

For Energy Security and a Clean Environment

    (1) Welcomed the successful completion of discussions on India's 
separation plan and looked forward to the full implementation of the 
commitments in the July 18, 2005 Joint Statement on nuclear cooperation. 
This historic accomplishment will permit our countries to move forward 
towards our common objective of full civil nuclear energy cooperation 
between India and the United States and between India and the 
international community as a whole.
    (2) Welcomed the participation of India in the ITER initiative on 
fusion energy as an important further step towards the common goal of 
full nuclear energy cooperation.
    (3) Agreed on India's participation in FutureGen, an international 
public-private partnership to develop new, commercially viable 
technology for a clean coal near-zero emission power project. India will 
contribute funding to the project and participate in the Government 
Steering Committee of this initiative.
    (4) Welcomed the creation of the Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean 
Development and Climate, which will enable India and the U.S. to work 
together with other countries in the region to pursue sustainable 
development and meet increased energy needs while addressing concerns of 
energy security and climate change. The Partnership will collaborate to 
promote the development, diffusion, deployment and transfer of cleaner, 
cost-effective and more efficient technologies and practices.
    (5) Welcomed India's interest in the Integrated Ocean Drilling 
Program, an international marine research endeavor that will contribute 
to long-term energy solutions such as gas hydrates.
    (6) Noting the positive cooperation under the Indo-U.S. Energy 
Dialogue, highlighted plans to hold joint conferences on topics such as 
energy efficiency and natural gas, to conduct study missions on 
renewable energy, to establish a clearing house in India for coal-bed 
methane/coal-mine methane, and to exchange energy market information.

For Innovation and the Knowledge Economy

    (1) Emphasizing the importance of knowledge partnerships, announced 
the establishment of a Bi-National Science and Technology Commission 
which the U.S. and India will co-fund. It will generate collaborative 
partnerships in science and technology and promote industrial research 
and development.
    (2) Agreed that the United States and India would work together to 
promote innovation, creativity and technological advancement by 
providing a vibrant intellectual property rights regime, and to 
cooperate in the

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field of intellectual property rights to include capacity building 
activities, human resource development and public awareness programs.
    (3) Agreed to continue exploring further cooperation in civil space, 
including areas such as space exploration, satellite navigation, and 
earth science. The United States and India committed to move forward 
with agreements that will permit the launch of U.S. satellites and 
satellites containing U.S. components by Indian space launch vehicles, 
opening up new opportunities for commercial space cooperation between 
the two countries.
    (4) Welcomed the inclusion of two U.S. instruments in the Indian 
lunar mission Chandrayaan-1. They noted that memoranda of understanding 
to be signed by ISRO and NASA would be significant steps forward in this 
area.
    (5) Welcomed the U.S. Department of Commerce's plan to create a 
license exception for items that would otherwise require an export 
license to end-users in India engaged solely in civilian activities.

For Global Safety and Security

    (1) Noted the enhanced counter-terrorism cooperation between the two 
countries and stressed that terrorism is a global scourge that must be 
fought and rooted out in every part of the world.
    (2) Welcomed the increased cooperation between the United States and 
India in the defense area, since the New Framework for the U.S.-India 
Defence Relationship was signed on June 28, 2005, as evidenced by 
successful joint exercises, expanded defence cooperation and information 
sharing, and greater opportunities to jointly develop technologies and 
address security and humanitarian issues.
    (3) Reaffirmed their commitment to the protection of the free flow 
of commerce and to the safety of navigation, and agreed to the 
conclusion of a Maritime Cooperation Framework to enhance security in 
the maritime domain, to prevent piracy and other transnational crimes at 
sea, carry out search and rescue operations, combat marine pollution, 
respond to natural disasters, address emergent threats and enhance 
cooperative capabilities, including through logistics support. Both 
sides are working to finalize a Logistics Support Agreement at the 
earliest.
    (4) Welcomed India's intention to join the Container Security 
Initiative aimed at making global maritime trade and infrastructure more 
secure and reducing the risk of shipping containers being used to 
conceal weapons of mass destruction.
    (5) Reiterated their commitment to international efforts to prevent 
the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
    (6) Building on the July 2005 Disaster Relief Initiative, noted the 
important disaster management cooperation and their improved 
capabilities to respond to disaster situations.
    (7) Recognized the importance of capacity building in cyber security 
and greater cooperation to secure their growing electronic 
interdependencies, including to protect electronic transactions and 
critical infrastructure from cybercrime, terrorism and other malicious 
threats.

Deepening Democracy and Meeting International Challenges

    (1) Recalled their joint launch of the UN Democracy Fund in 
September 2005 and offered the experience and expertise of both 
Governments for capacity building, training and exchanges to third 
countries that request such assistance to strengthen democratic 
institutions.
    (2) Welcomed the decision of India and the United States to 
designate a representative to the Government Advisory Board of the 
International Centre for Democratic Transition (ICDT) located in 
Budapest to facilitate cooperative activities with ICDT.
    (3) Agreed that the Virtual Coordination and Information Centres set 
up in September 2005 should be further strengthened and a bilateral 
meeting aimed at developing a practical programme for utilization of its 
services be held soon.
    (4) Expressed satisfaction at the expedited USFDA drug approval 
processes that strengthen the combat against HIV/AIDS at the global 
level and encourage greater corporate participation to meet this 
challenge, including the establishment of the Indo-U.S. Corporate Fund 
for HIV/AIDS.

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    (5) Agreed to expand bilateral efforts and continue cooperation in 
the area of medical research and strengthen technical capacity in food 
and drug regulation in India as well as address the concern on avian 
influenza, including agreement to reach out to the private sector, 
develop regional communications strategies, and plan an in-region 
containment and response exercise. The President welcomed India's offer 
to host the International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza 
meeting in 2007.
    (6) Welcomed India's membership in the Coalition Against Wildlife 
Trafficking, a partnership through which we will collaborate in the 
fight against illegal trade in wildlife and wildlife parts; we also 
welcome the opportunity to strengthen longstanding work together on the 
conservation of wildlife through cooperation on park management and 
ecotourism.
    President Bush thanked Prime Minister Singh and the people of India 
for the warmth of their reception and the generosity of their 
hospitality.

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