‘Don’t judge Indo-US ties solely on NSSP’

Talbott, who is now the president of the Brookings Institution, was speaking at a roundtable discussion organised by the Observer Research Foundation today. ‘‘There is a fixation in the Indian side on the acronym NSSP. But it would be wrong to judge the health of Indo-US relations exclusively on the basis of the how fast or slow was the progress made on it,’’ he said.

While not denying the significance of the NSSP agreed upon between former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and US President George W. Bush, Talbott said there was a need to broaden the scope of the dialogue instead of being focused on the NSSP.

Restricting matters to the NSSP — which calls for increasing exchange in high technology, civil nuclear and civilian space cooperation — Talbott felt, could lead to disppointment. ‘‘As a member of the NPT, the US cannot do certain things that India would like it to do as part of the agree-ment (NSSP).’’

In India to preside over a tie-up between Brookings Institution and ORF, Talbott also took note of the relentless efforts being made by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Bush to improve the relationship.

On Kashmir, Talbott said the US had no roadmap. However, he favoured converting the Line of Control to a permanent border. He also emphasised Washington could only play a facilitator.