New Delhi: US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said as the world’s largest democracy, India will help shape a “new world order” that is emerging in this century.
Hagel, who landed in India on his maiden trip on Thursday as Defense Secretary, is scheduled to meet his Indian counterpart Arun Jaitley and other leaders of the new Indian Government. His visit comes in less than a week after Secretary of State John Kerry and Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzeker visited New Delhi for India-US Strategic Dialogue.
“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,” he said, adding that the point of his trip here is to take advantage of the opportunity to meet with a new Indian government.
“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, they all represent different kinds of challenges for India,” he said.
“The sooner we can find ways, the US 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,” he said.
He said big power stability and big power security have always been important in the world and their importance is not going to be diminished over the next few years.
Hagel said his current India trip is to acquaint himself with the ground realities and that he would be more in listening mode. “This is an opportune time to spend a couple of days here listening, learning, and getting acquainted.”
A supporter of India-US civilian nuclear deal, Hagel said power and energy are going to be a specifically important driving force for oil-developing economies, emerging economies and growing economies.
“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,” he said.
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