The Hindu Business Line : Indian Ocean areas centre-point of global affairs, says Kissinger

“Both India and the US have parallel interests in this shifting balance of power. Indo-US economic and political relations are now growing stronger, as both are natural partners.”

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Kolkata, Nov. 3 The present day international socio-economic and political scenario is at a stage where “fundamental shifts are taking place”, and “relations between nations is like relations between people, defined by credibility and reliability”.

Speaking at an interactive session organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on “Asian Century: Where will India be?” here on Saturday, Dr Henry Alfred Kissinger, former US Secretary of State and Nobel Laureate (for Peace, in 1973), said the turmoils in West Asia and the shifting balance of power have been instrumental in the US and India “sharing common concerns”.

He told captains of industry here that both India and the US had parallel interests in this shifting balance of power. Indo-US economic and political relations are now growing stronger, as “both are natural partners”, he said.

New times

Pointing out that times had now changed in the new international order where the centre of gravity of international affairs had shifted from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean and the surrounding areas, Dr Kissinger, the inventor of ‘shuttle diplomacy”, argued that India looked both East and West, and “though a late starter compared to China in terms of development, was doing well”.

He said that as China grew with its impact on Asia, India had to maintain relations with both China and the US. “India and the US have a common interest in a peaceful Asia,” he said

Dr Kissinger justified US intervention in Iraq, but said that “an international body should have taken up the interim administration.

Nuclear deal

He sounded optimistic about the India-US civil nuclear deal, and said that even if the deal did not work out, it did not mean the end of Indo-US cooperation as a whole. Dr Kissinger said India-US ties since 1974 have been “quite amazing”.

He lauded West Bengal as a State with a Communist government but “dedicated and committed” to investment and industrialisation.

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