IndiaPost.com - Republicans welcome new Indo-US relationship, N-deal

WASHINGTON: The ruling Republican party in the US has reaffirmed faith in the civil nuclear accord with India and the shared commitment to deal with common security concerns, according to the working draft of its platform. White House hopeful John McCain's party, which is fine-tuning its political agenda, hailed the "new" Indo-US relationship in a yet to be titled working draft submitted to its Platform Committee.

"The US is a Pacific nation, and our historic ties to Asia will grow stronger in the years ahead," the working draft of the Platform said. "We welcome America's new relationship with India, including the US-India civil nuclear accord. Our common security concerns and shared commitment to political freedom and representative government can be the foundation for an enduring partnership," said the working draft of the party platform as posted by National Review on line.

Unlike the elaborate presentation of the Party Platform in 2004, this time the document is going to be much shorter and is likely to be finalized in the next day or two by the Platform Committee, leaving the possibility of further changes at the Convention process itself. On Pakistan, the working draft is equally brief stressing that the US supports the efforts for democratic governance and appreciates the country's essential role in the war on terror.

"We must expand our ties with the government and the people of Pakistan. We support their efforts to improve democratic governance and strengthen civil society, and we appreciate the difficult but essential role Pakistan plays in the fight against terror," the yet to be finalized document said.