New Delhi, Nov. 23 (ANI): Singh expressed hope that the US would be “more liberal” in transferring technologies to India and clear the way for implementing the landmark agreement on nuclear cooperation.

The Prime Minister also said that he has no apprehensions about the United States viewing India differently because of a change of administration in Washington.

“I have no apprehension that our relationship with the United States will change because of a change of administration.”

Elaborating further, he said that credit for the relationship that existed between India and United States should go to the Indian-American community and assorted institutions, lobbies, caucuses and bodies representing India’s interests in the United States in a comprehensive and positive manner.

“There is no doubt about the role that people-to-people contacts, the large Indian-American community, has played and contributed to changing the way the United States, and indeed the world views India now. Nearly every Indian family has a relative in the United States, and this is testimony to the warm relations that these two countries

enjoy,” said Dr. Singh.

Asked for his comments on what he saw as the key factors responsible for the global financial meltdown, Singh replied: “Lack of regulation. A monetary policy that was far too liberal; that should have been tightened well in time.”

He further said India was more prudent than the other countries.

“Good supervision and natural prudence has helped us to tide over this crisis,” he added.

As far as the financial the United States was concerned, Singh said: “The US always has shown a remarkable ability and consistency in bouncing back from its economic problems.”

On the prevailing situation in Afghanistan, Dr. Singh said that a decade ago, the emergence of the Taliban had created a problem in the South Asian and Central Asian region, and its disappearance post 9/11 was a blessing.

Asked how he saw Afghanistan emerging as nation from years and decades of war-ravaged ruin, he said that it was for Afghan President Hamid Karzai to take responsibility in his second term to harmonize and bringing together all elements in Afghanistan with the help of a purposeful government.

He welcomed the US initiative to work for a better, improved and democratic Afghanistan, but was very skeptical about Pakistan’s objections in that country.

“Pakistan’s objectives in Afghanistan not necessarily in harmony with American objectives. Having said that, who am I to judge whether the Pakistan Government and the Pakistan Army is moving to remove the Afghan Taliban,” said Singh.

Insofar as who was running Pakistan, Dr. Singh appeared quite emphatic when he stated that the Pakistan Army is running the country. “It is not clear if the President (Zardari) is in charge of the army,”

Singh added.

Commenting on India and China emerging as the economic powerhouses of Asia and the global economy in the new millennium, the Prime Minister said that India did not see China as a rival in the trade and commercial sector, and added that there was enough space in the global economy for both to cooperate and complement each other to realize the true potential of each other’s economies. (ANI)