Ties with US foremost priority: Krishna tells Obama

"Mr President, we consider the mutually beneficial relationship with the United States to be one of our foremost foreign policy priorities," Krishna said in his remarks at a reception hosted by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in his honour.

In a rare gesture, Obama also attended the reception for Krishna, ignoring protocols.

"There are few relationships in the world that have so much potential as India-US relations, because I believe that our cooperation is not only for mutual benefit, but is destined to have a strong impact on global peace, prosperity and stability in the 21st century," he said.

Describing his meetings with US officials here as "very productive meetings," Krishna said during the Strategic Dialogue the two sides reviewed progress in all areas of ongoing cooperation, while discussing the vision and "road map" for the future.

"We also discussed how we would work together to realise the immense potential of our cooperation across the spectrum of human endeavours from strategic cooperation to sustainable growth and economic and developmental partnerships to achieve real benefits for our peoples, and for the world," he said.

Krishna said India looks forward to a stable and prosperous future for the Asia-Pacific region defined by cooperation, openness and inclusion, as a peaceful and stable South Asia is critical for India's development and security.

"Mr President, we are pleased that you, with your deep personal links with the Asia-Pacific region, are taking strong interest in the future of this rapidly evolving region," he said.

"We believe that India can be a dependable anchor of the region's growth," Krishna asserted.

Referring to Afghanistan, Krishna said India is committed to that country's development and supporting the Afghan people in their efforts to build capacity and assume the rightful responsibilities for governance, security and development.

"With international support, they will succeed in their efforts," he said.

Earlier at a joint press availability with Clinton at the State Department, Krishna noted that there are few relationships in the world that have so much potential as India-US relations.

The two sides shared the opinion that a "segmented approach" towards terrorism, especially in India's "neighbourhood," would not succeed, Krishna said.

"Therefore, I believe that our cooperation is not only for great mutual benefit, but we can work together to make a significant contribution to global peace, prosperity and stability in the 21st century," he said.

He said India considered the strategic partnership with the US as one of its key foreign policy priorities.

"The United States is the largest economy in the world, and India is emerging as one of the largest and one of its fastest-growing economies. The relationship rests on a solid bedrock of shared values," Krishna said.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Krishna said, attaches great significance to India-US strategic dialogue and to the Indo-US relationship.

"He and President Obama reaffirmed, when they last met, their commitment to taking this relationship to a new level of coordination and cooperation, a global strategic partnership for the 21st century, between India and the United States," he said.

The Strategic Dialogue, he said has further increased the two sides' understanding on the nature and source of terrorism that threatens both the societies.

"We agreed that terrorism; terrorist groups operate as a syndicate, leveraging each other's assets and are increasingly converging together on motivation and targets.
"Hence a segmented approach towards terrorism, especially in our neighbourhood, would not succeed," he said.

"He said the two sides are pleased with the way the counter-terrorism cooperation has progressed, "and today we have agreed to intensify it forwards," he said.

Krishna said the two countries discussed the steps that they should take to further deepen their growing defence and security cooperation, including defence trade and collaboration, which has grown rapidly in recent years.

"We had again a very good discussion on economic cooperation, high technology exports to India, cooperation in higher education, health care, science and technology, empowerment, agriculture, climate change, and energy," he said.

Noting that he and Clinton agreed that they have to go beyond multiplying their trade and investments, he said: "We are two innovative societies with a proven track record of success in partnerships for innovation".

"India is making a modest but meaningful contribution based on its experience and expertise and of our resources".

Terming the dialogue as wide-ranging, he said: "We have identified the areas of our strategic priority and the road map for cooperation in each of these areas.
"Secretary Clinton and I have agreed to monitor the progress and meet again in 2011".

At the reception attended by Obama, Krishna said as India regains the momentum of her economic growth, new opportunities are emerging to empower rural communities, especially women.

"Time and again, we have seen in other developing countries -- for example, in the pioneering efforts of Ann Soetoro, your late mother, Mr President, in Indonesia -- the transformational impact of innovation and microfinance that is our hope for transforming our economy and society in an equitable, inclusive and sustainable manner," Krishna said.