Former Prime Minister of India - Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee's statement at the Press Conference at New York

Following is the text of the statement made by the Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, at New York :

~Today, I conclude a satisfying visit to New York. Besides attending the 57th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, I met a number of Heads of State and Government, US Congressmen and Senators, and representatives of US and Indian community organizations.

I had the pleasure of meeting President Bush in New York. We re-affirmed our commitment to a long-term relationship of trust and transparency between India and USA. President Bush reiterated the total commitment of USA against terrorism and condemned the recent killings in Jammu & Kashmir, aimed at sabotaging the election process in that State. We reviewed our bilateral relations and agreed to intensify contacts and exchanges in high technology, space and nuclear energy.

I welcomed the opportunity to meet a group of US Senators and Congressmen. There is broad political support both in the Senate and the House of Representatives for strong India-US relations. I expressed our appreciation for this. We discussed areas where the US Congress could support the initiatives of our two governments to further intensify India-US relations.

A delegation of US Jewish organizations called on me. The Jewish community in USA has been strongly supportive of India in the US Congress and outside on terrorism and other important issues.

In a cordial meeting with the President of Afghanistan, I conveyed a strong message of our support for the unity and independence of Afghanistan. The President appreciated India’s financial, economic and technical assistance to his country.

Our traditionally close ties with Mauritius were re-affirmed in my meeting with the Prime Minister Sir Anerood Jugnauth. Our cooperation with Mauritius is strong and vibrant. A Union Cabinet Minister would shortly be visiting Mauritius to lay the foundation stone of their Cyber City, which is being built under Indian financial assistance of US $ 100 million and with our technical cooperation. I invited the Prime Minister to the inaugural Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas celebrations in Delhi in January next year.

In my meeting with the Prime Minister of Denmark, we discussed the intensification of the India-EU cooperation in the context of the forthcoming India-EU Business Summit in Copenhagen. We agreed to jointly attend a session of the India-EU Business Summit on the eve of the Heads of Governments Summit.

With the Prime Minister of Japan, I discussed follow-up on initiatives which we had announced during my visit to that country late last year. Economic cooperation has made satisfactory progress, including work on the Delhi Metro and preparatory action on the cleaning of the Ganga and the Yamuna rivers.

I had the opportunity to meet the newly elected President of Zambia and to reiterate to him India’s commitment to further strengthening our historical relations. I reiterated my invitation to the President to visit India and we expect his visit to materialize in the near future. A number of areas of India-Zambia cooperation were identified for future cooperation, including small-scale industries and agricultural development.

We have had relations of close cooperation with Bulgaria, both bilaterally and in the UN. In my meeting with the President of Bulgaria, we reviewed our bilateral relations in all areas. I conveyed our appreciation to Bulgaria for their support to us in matters of concern in the UN Security Council, Bulgaria has also extended its support to India’s permanent membership of the UN Security Council.

A common theme running through all these meetings was that of international terrorism. Every single world leader whom I met condemned the terrorist attacks in Jammu & Kashmir and elsewhere in India. The Prime Minister of Mauritius called for an end to cross-border infiltration in his UNGA statement. Meeting in New York during the first anniversary of the horrible tragedies in USA, I naturally discussed with all these leaders the imperative need for democracies to cooperate in rooting out terrorism effectively and without discrimination.

It was a poignant experience for me to meet some of the relatives of the Indian victims of the brutal terrorist attacks of September 11. I attended the simple, but evocative, remembrance ceremony at Battery Park to express solidarity with all those who have suffered from terrorism.

It was a special pleasure to pay homage in New York to the memory of Swami Vivekananda.

The diverse groups of Indian community representatives whom I met on various occasions gave me a good idea of the outlook and perspectives of the Indian diaspora in this country~.