China's 'greater role' in S Asia: Why India is unfazed

Taking exception to the contention that certain provisions in India's Nuclear Liability Bill would jeopardise the India-United States civilian nuclear agreement, National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon assured that Washington's concerns are being addressed and would be resolved before US President Barack Obama visits India in November.
 
In the interaction that followed his remarks at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on India-US Relations: On the Eve of President Obama's Visit to India, Menon, responding to Rediff.com on how the angst of US business and industry over the liability bill could be alleviated, acknowledged, "What we need to do is to work our way through this issue".

Reportage: Aziz Haniffa in Washington, DC

Menon argued, "I don't think it is going to be as difficult as we make it out to be because I think there is a normal process which I think is familiar to Washington. When bills are being drafted and are lying in Parliament, everybody tries to affect that outcome in their own special interests. I guess here you call it lobbying. But the fact is that everybody puts out their expectations and then tries to see what they get. Once the bill is done and becomes an act, then I think we see how it actually works.

 He reiterated, "We don't see any real insurmountable problem in working through the civil liability act in practice, which could prevent companies from doing business. The  talks had begun with some companies and we are very happy to talk to them to work it out in practice."

He argued, "For me, it's just an academic argument as to whether China has a major role to play in South Asia. Of course, China has a presence in South Asia and has so for a long time. We have had a presence in East Asia for a long time."

 "But that presence has changed and evolved as China has changed, as South Asia has changed and we have changed. And we will continue to do that," he added.

On Afghanistan, Menon put to rest any perception in some quarters that the Indian government is frustrated about not being assigned a greater role in the conflict-torn country as part of the US' policy.

"I don't think it is for us to give the US a greater role or for the US to give us a great role. I don't think that s the way we look at it," he said.
 
Menon explained that what India is looking for is a peaceful, moderate Afghanistan, which is not prone to anarchy or a haven for terrorists, which would be not just a regional threat, but a global one. "So, that's the goal and that stays the goal, and we will continue to work towards that goal with our partners, with the US," he said.