External Affairs Minister S M Krishna has said that India sought peace and prosperity in South Asia and was determined to work with its neighbours to defeat the scourge of violent extremism, which has taken root in the region.
Addressing students and faculty at Ivy league Brown University in Rhode Island on Friday, Krishna outlined India's efforts in working with the Afghan people on their road to economic recovery and pursuing normalisation of relations with Pakistan.He said India's pursuit of normalisation of relations with Pakistan was evident from finalisation of a roadmap for normal trade relations, and also from liberalising the visa regime to promote greater people-to-people contacts.
Asserting that India's interests are firmly anchored in a stable global order and a peaceful neighbourhood, Krishna said there was a need for an open and equitable international trading system, stable financial system, reliable, affordable andsecure energy supplies and food security.
He said as a country that had lived in the shadows of the arc of proliferation, India would not only maintain its impeccable track record on non-proliferation, but would also play a more active role in building international partnership to combat proliferation and pursue the goals of nuclear disarmament.
Describing the US as an important partner in its development efforts Krishna said, for India it would remain a relationship of great priority and importance in the 21st century.
He said as they looked at the priorities for India's foreign policy in the decades ahead, they saw not only convergence of interests with Washington but also a belief in the importance of a strong partnership between our two great democracies in achieving our shared goals.
The External Affairs Minister said that India's key foreign policy priority was to invest in building a stable and cooperative relationship with China, which would be a source of stability and prosperity in the region. He cautioned that Asia's extraordinary accomplishments in the last few decades could be reversed if great power rivalry, national chauvinism and arms race take hold of the region.
