Visit is of substance, says former envoy

Former Ambassador to the US, Ronen Sen has said that the visit of Barack Obama to India would have substance and would not only be a symbolic visit.

 Sen was speaking at an event organised by Synergia Foundation, a think-tank, in the city on Friday. 

“I don’t think Obama has come just to see the parade or be a chief guest at the Indian Republic Day. The visit will be an action forging one. 

“My impression is that the gap between agreement and action would be narrowed to some extent during the Modi-Obama summit. Our constant endeavour should be to bridge the gap between agreements and action,” Sen said in response to a query from modertaor Latha Reddy, the  former Deputy National Security Advisor and ambassador to Portugal.

Referring to the civil nuclear agreement, Sen felt there was need to clarify the liability issues. 

“We could get to action here. But what must be cleared is who will bear the cost of liability. That cost has gone up dramatically over the last few years. It is not the only issue for discussion, but it is the major issue. It will be interesting to see what progress would be achieved here.”

The former US ambassador said the US could offer an MoU on counter-terrorist frameworks. 

“It would not be enough just to talk about counter-terrorism. We need actionable agreements that can alter the ground reality in the Pakistan scene. At the same we should develop our own capabilities, especially in the area of real time intelligence sharing.”