US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel will discuss mega defence deal with Modi

US Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel spoke to media en route to New Delhi. His opening comments were a general round-up of his focus during his India trip. Here is the full text of what Hagel said before he took journalists’ questions. Let me just give you my general take on the India trip, and then we’ll open it up and talk about whatever you want. I think, when you look at the world today, and you’re all quite familiar with this, that India not only represents one of the most significant countries by any measurement in the world today, but will help shape a new world order that is emerging in this young century. [caption id=“attachment_1654301” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel. Reuters[/caption] The relationship between the United States and India certainly for our interests, for US interests, and I think for India’s interests, as well as the Asia Pacific, but also global interests, is important. And where we can find common interests, where we can share areas that help promote our own countries’, our own economies’ stability, security, peace, trade, technology, then we need to take that initiative and we need to do that. The point of my trip here is to take advantage of the opportunity to meet with a new Indian government. I think you all know who I’ll be meeting with, and you’ve seen my schedule. But the last time I was here was 2008, and I was here with my then-Senate colleagues, Biden and Kerry. And we were in the region to monitor the Pakistani elections, and then we were in Afghanistan and then came here. I had been here a few times previous to that, but that’s the last time I had been here. In those meetings in 2008, it was pretty clear then that the potential for India and what they were evolving toward was going to be very important for our future. When you look at the region itself, South Asia, the instability that lies to the west of India, and a different kind of a world that lies to their east, and their south, and their north, all are – they all represent different challenges and different kinds of challenges for India. And the sooner we can find ways, the United States and India, to participate in these areas of mutual benefit and also concern, I think the better as we see this world that is uncertain and complicated and dangerous and unpredictable continue to evolve. Big power stability and big power security has always been important in the world, as you know, but it’s not going to be diminished in its importance as we look ahead over the next few years. And I think there’s clear evidence of why that’s the case when we assess the challenges that we’re dealing with today. A couple other points on India. I’m here to, first, listen. I’m here to get acquainted. I come a few days after Secretary Kerry and Secretary [of Commerce Penny] Pritzker. I come about a month before the new Indian prime minister will be in the United States and meeting with President Obama. So this is a – I think an opportune time to spend a couple of days here listening, learning, and getting acquainted. I’m here to pursue different possibilities and options that have been initiated over the years. We have a number of things, specific projects that we will discuss. One is the renewal of the 10-year defense framework agreement. You also know that when Secretary Panetta was here a couple of years ago, the initiative that he presented, the Defense Trade and Technology Initiative, which has been important as it built a framework and a base to lay some specific proposals down, which we are working with the Indian government on now. I’m interested in understanding more of their interests and some of those specific proposals. Are there interests in other areas? We are doing more than we’ve ever done military-to-military with India with joint exercises. We want to continue to build on those exercises. We’ll talk about where we can expand the potential for joint exercises. When I was here in 2008, and then the time just prior to that, last two times I was here, it was – as you recall, during the end of the second George W. Bush administration – that presented the nuclear initiative with India. I was a very strong supporter of that initiative in the Senate and on the Foreign Relations Committee. I thought it was an initiative clearly in the interests of the United States, but I also thought it was an opportunity, as well, for India to open up its pathway to peaceful nuclear exploration – commercial exploration – in using nuclear power. A nation that demographers tell us will overtake China in population, I think, 2030, will be the most populous country on Earth, that needs to provide an astounding number of jobs and economic opportunities for their people each year, continue to widen and deepen its educational opportunities for its people. Power, energy is going to be a specifically important driving force as energy is for oil-developing economies and emerging economies, growing economies. And that opportunity that I thought that was important for many reasons that the Bush administration opened up was about one example of where I think different kinds of initiatives can be explored with these two large democracies, one being the largest democracy in the world and the other being the oldest democracy in the world. So India and the United States begin with a pretty solid framework of general understanding, especially of democratic values and principles, and that’s not an insignificant starting point in foreign policy or foreign relations.