International Conference on "India R & D 2005 - A Knowledge hub of the Future"
November 7, 2005, New Delhi

Address by Mr. William Cohen, Former U.S. Secretary of Defense and Chairman and CEO, The Cohen Group

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak before such an esteemed audience.

It may strike some as somewhat anomalous for me - a student of the classics, a politician, a Cabinet officer and now a businessman - to appear before an audience of scientists, engineers and those whose minds race to the horizon in search of new products and services that enhance the lives of mankind.

I have always taken refuge in the words of the poet Shelly who said that poets are the true legislators of the world. This, of course, was a comfortable rationalization by those who profess to hold some talent or felicity in stringing together pleasant sounding syllables. In truth, however, it is the scientists and engineers who hold the keys to the kingdom of survival, progress and prosperity.

While serving as President Bill Clinton's Secretary of Defense, I had occasion to meet many world leaders - from Chile to China, Australia to Argentina, Jamaica to Japan.

Regrettably, I was not able to meet with India's Prime Minister and other political leaders due to tensions that did not fully abate between Washington and New Delhi until President Clinton's final year in office.

But President Clinton started the process of rapprochement that President Bush has boldly seized upon and accelerated, culminating in Prime Minister Singh's very successful July visit to Washington and in the signing of a declaration of a new Strategic Partnership.

That event confirmed the dawn of a new day, a true partnership that will solidify the creation of a virtuous circle of democracy, stability, opportunity and prosperity.

It is a partnership that will produce a positive impact across all fronts - especially in the commercial sectors, in Research and development, and in science and innovation.

Partners in Democracy

The intellect can flourish only where there is freedom. The lifebood of creativity, of invention, of discovery is liberty and democracy. Genius cannot be fully suppressed by dictators, but it is notable that Nodel Prize laureates in Physics, Chemistry and sister sciences routinely are captured by citizens of free countries.

India, as a democracy, has already tasted these triumphs. Think of the Green Revolution, the Internet, the Information Technology Boom, Outsourcing, the phenomenon of Biocon, and 24-7 production partnerships underway even as we speak between India and the rest of the global economy. Invention holds promise of preventing the pandemic of avian flu, curing AIDS and diseases yet unknown.

More efficient methods of electricity transmission and new substitutes for fossil fuels can reduce dependence on polluting hydrocarbons. New telecommunications technologies such as wireless broadband networks are slashing prices and yielding bundles of new services. A cell phone in a few years may do everything but play cricket. These innovations are quite likely to originate in India.

This is not to say that challenges are not before us. Bold risk taking is required. Peace and Security. Discipline. Contract Sanctity.

Intellectual Property Rights protection. Rule of Law. These are the bare minimum ingredients required to spur innovation.

No entrepreneur will invent without an assurance of protection by enforceable contracts.

India's new Patent Act acknowledges that innovation can blossom so long as intellectual property is protected.

With the freedom of mind and markets that democracy offers, I have no doubt that we can attain a second Renaissance.

The Gutenberg press, the telescope, the thermometer, the barometer, the microscope, anesthesia. The future equivalent of these discoverie is just over the horizon.

The U.S.-India Strategic Partnership will provide the foundation on which invention and innovation flourish.

Last July 18th, Prime Minister Singh and President Bush announced an existing initiative to share nuclear civilian technology.

The Strategic Partnership is based upon trust and transparency, and a mutual commitment to peace and security. It is the commitment of India and the United States to the democratic values of freedom, opportunity, accountability, justice and social equity.

India's democracy has stood like the Rock of Gibraltar since 1947 against stresses and misfortune, including the assassinations, wars with Pakistan and China.

The United States' democracy has similarly stood firm despite assassinations, and wars past and present.

Nations once released from the shackles of oppression either through revolution or resistance will not easily yield their freedom and return to a state of subjugation or domination. History has shown that men who ride in on white horses often wear black hats or develop dark hearts once they have seized the reins of power.

The new strategic partnership with India will enjoy a permanency and predictability. Both nations are working hand in glove to restore democracy to Nepal, to brokers peace in Sri Lanka, to encourage moderation in Bangaldesh, and to bring constitutionalism to Myanmar. We equally seek for Pakistan stability and democratic values. Prime Minister Singh has avowed allegiance to "those who defend the values of liberal democracy and secularism across the world". We join him in this call.

The more the United States and India are able to spread democracy and free speech across the globe, the more likely innovation and invention will proliferate throughout the world.

It is something of a cliche to say that "Business follows the flag." But after all, cliches are simply truths repeared endlessly. Capital flows to areas of stability and it heads into the opposite direction if there is a threat of instability.

We know that the threat to our democratic values comes from the intersection of terrorism and technology. A few messianic extremists or miscreants who go unchecked will shatter all that we hold dear.

And so it becomes a moral, an existential imperative for us to gather our will and harness our energies to defeat those who hope to achieve a civilzational apartheid through the slaughter of innocents or who consider mass destruction to be entry price for martyrdom.

Tom Friedman has written that technology has flattened the world. The Berlin Wall has collapsed;Bill Gates' Windows have opened; Netscape has allowed us to browse the world so that people who once had to immigrate to gain knowledge can now remain at home and compete and collaborate on a level playing field.

But there is, of course, a dark side to this new moon. The technology developed by Bill Gates and others is available to the Bin Ladin's of the world.

Science and technology are all brain. They have no heart. No conscience. They can be used to produce nuclear energy that can improve the lives of millions of our peoples or to unleash the power of the atom to return us to the Stone Age.

In the post 9/11 world, the United States and India are working in tandem to fight global terrorism and instill peace and harmony. Neither India nor the United States harbor territorial ambitions, and both are adamant against international aggression. Both countries celebrate secularism and religious pluralism.

And as the United States was founded by immigrants fleeing religious persecution, India accomdates an impressive array of religious diversity. Prime Minister Singh is a Sikh, your President is a Muslim,the leader of the ruling party is a Roman Catholic, but her children are Hindu.

The United States and India honor the rule of law and free enterprise. Both feature independent judiciaries, and an independent bar. India's new Patents Act respects intellectual property. India and the United States are nations of enterpreneurs. Small businesses in the United States surpass 22 million, and India sports proprietors at every street corner. India's GDP 2004 growth approximated 8.5 percent.

In the early 1990s, Indian-Americans accounted for 10 percent of all start-up companies in Silicon Valley. About 80,000 Indians are enrolled in U.S. institutions of higher education, the largest group among foreign exchange students. In the lodging Industry, Indian-Americans own 12,500 hotels with a combined market value of $31 billion.

On the military front, a promising initiative was launched last summer when U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rusted and India's Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee signed a ten-year agreement on joint weapons production, cooperation on missile defence, and the prospective lifting of export controls on sensitive military technologies. Space and satellite technology cooperation is accelerating, and I predict an Indian will soon join the club of astronauts. Unprecedented military cooperation unfolded during the tsunami disaster last year in humanitarian missions.

In sum, when I peer into the future, the future is an India-United States Strategic Partnership every bit as solid as the United States-British alliances. The relations between the two countries will assume a natural course based on common interests, based on freedom and democracy, and based on innovation and technology.

I have spoken with officials in the White House, State Department and members of Congress. All are devoted to the vision and to the reality of our two great democracies linked together, arm in arm, marching into a future that is filled with the promise of peace, prosperity, and of infinite possibilities.

Thank You

Dhanyavad