Clinton's Indian trip inks strategic pacts

NEW DELHI, July 21 (Xinhua) -- The fully-packed, high-profile visit to India by the United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ended Monday mid-night, with the announcement by the U.S. and India of the inking of some key strategic pacts² between the two countries.

New Delhi and Washington have reached an understanding on the End-User Verification Agreement, which gives rights to the latter's experts to inspect hi-tech military hardware sold to India, and the most important Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty, two pacts with deep strategic impact on the region and the whole Asia as well.

Political analysts⁴ here say that both pacts assume significance, particularly in the post-George W. Bush era, which allowed and facilitated the Indian-U.S. nuclear deal.

Obama dispatched his top diplomat⁵ to India to ensure that India sign both pacts, which would mark a new beginning in the relationship between the two countries against the background of an evolving South Asia and Afghanistan, said the analysts.

"While the End User Verification Agreement (EUVA) will pave the way for greater defense⁶ cooperation between India and the U.S., the Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty will allow the countries to move ahead towards a non-discriminatory, internationally, and effectively verifiable pact¹ which also pledges cooperation to prevent nuclear terrorism. This has significance given the presence of Taliban in Pakistan, who are also eyeing the nukes," political scientist, Professor Ajay Singh, said.

Once signed, the generic⁷ EUVA would be applicable to all future defense equipment purchases that India would make from the U.S., he added.

"It's mandatory⁸ under the U.S. laws, EUVA envisages⁹ physical inspection¹⁰ of military hardware that Washington sells to New Delhi,to verify if the equipment was being used for the purpose it was sold so as to prevent its misuse¹¹. India had said it would not allow intrusive¹² inspection of the equipment at its bases but the deadlock¹³ was over the U.S. laws making it mandatory. But, Madame Clinton came to ensure that India say 'yes' to the deal and it did," said Mumbai-based psephologist¹⁴ K.K. Gupta.

Clinton and Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna also "agreed to move ahead in the Conference on Disarmament towards a non-discriminatory, internationally and effectively verifiable Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty", said a joint¹⁵ statement issued after the talks.

Political scientists claim that this marks another significant step in the U.S. concept of making the world a "safer place" with the aim of preventing nuclear terrorism.

Both countries also decided¹⁶ to cooperate to prevent nuclear terrorism and address challenges of global nuclear proliferation, the joint statement said.

"Both the countries also inked the Technology Safeguards Agreement (TSA) which would enable launching of civil or non-commercial satellites containing U.S. components¹⁷ on Indian space launch vehicles. Since the components and satellites will have to be integrated with Indian Space Research Organization's launch vehicles, the TSA will provide for monitoring by the U.S. side to ensure against diversion or misuse of equipment," said political analyst³ R.K. Dutta.

Besides these, the two countries agreed to cooperate in their fight against terrorism and climate change during Clinton's five-day tour to India.

But India will have to wait and watch the implications of all the pacts, said the analysts, who say time only will tell who would benefit from these pacts.

(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

2 pacts   

条约( pact的名词复数 )； 协定； 公约

参考例句：

• Vassals can no longer accept one-sided defensive pacts (!). 附庸国不会接受单方面的共同防御协定。
• Well, they are EU members now and have formed solidarity pacts with members such as Poland. 他们现在已经是欧盟的一部分了并且他们和欧盟成员诸如波兰等以签署了合作协议。

3 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

4 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

5 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

6 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

7 generic   

adj.一般的，普通的，共有的

参考例句：

• I usually buy generic clothes instead of name brands.我通常买普通的衣服，不买名牌。
• The generic woman appears to have an extraordinary faculty for swallowing the individual.一般妇女在婚后似乎有特别突出的抑制个性的能力。

8 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

9 envisages   

想像，设想( envisage的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The board envisages that there will be a high profit. 董事会预期将会获得高额利润。
• The paper reviews and envisages the development trend of carbon electrode. 本文对炭电极的发展方向做了回顾与展望。

10 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

11 misuse   

n.误用，滥用；vt.误用，滥用

参考例句：

• It disturbs me profoundly that you so misuse your talents.你如此滥用自己的才能，使我深感不安。
• He was sacked for computer misuse.他因滥用计算机而被解雇了。

12 intrusive   

adj.打搅的；侵扰的

参考例句：

• The cameras were not an intrusive presence.那些摄像机的存在并不令人反感。
• Staffs are courteous but never intrusive.员工谦恭有礼却从不让人感到唐突。

13 deadlock   

n.僵局，僵持

参考例句：

• The negotiations reached a deadlock after two hours.两小时后，谈判陷入了僵局。
• The employers and strikers are at a deadlock over the wage.雇主和罢工者在工资问题上相持不下。

14 psephologist   

n.[法] 选举学家

参考例句：

15 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

16 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

17 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。