US Senate says Indo-US ties critical

The US Senate has unanimously passed a resolution welcoming Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the US and underlined that enhanced economic, defence and security ties with India is critical to improve bilateral relations.

The resolution, passed yesterday, calls for deepened US engagement with India and implementation of policies such as the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT), US-India civil nuclear agreement and continued liberalisation of Foreign Direct investment (FDI) regulations.

Introduced by the co-chairs of the Senate India Caucus, Senators Mark Warner and John Cornyn, the resolution was sponsored by Senator Robert Menendez, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee among others.

During a Congressional hearing on Wednesday, Warner emphasised the need to move forward on a BIT.

"A BIT will increase regulatory stability, and reduce investor uncertainty, particularly during these challenging economic conditions. We must improve cooperation on both sides if we're going to have the FDI that we need-it must be a two way street and a level playing field," Warner said.

Warner also said that the US needs to press India on some aspects of the retroactive tax system and he hoped that India will continue the process of liberalising foreign access to their domestic market.

The resolution said FDI and a transparent and progressive investment climate can play a critical role in economic development in India and strengthening Indo-US relations.

Singh is visiting the US to attend the the UN General Assembly session in New York. He will meet US President Barack Obama here today.

Noting that a strong relationship with India is critically important to US interests, the resolution said that Singh has led his government to undertake a series of reforms designed to strengthen the Indian economy and transform the bilateral economic relationship into a true strategic partnership.

India is the largest regional contributor to rebuilding efforts in Afghanistan and will be an important partner in the transition of United States forces from the region in 2014, the resolution said.

India serves a pivotal and effective partner in ensuring international peace and security and is the third largest contributor of personnel to United Nations peacekeeping missions, it added.

Security and defence cooperation between the US and India continues to grow, as New Delhi remains a steadfast partner in countering the rise of extremists and currently participates in more naval exercises with the United States than any other nation, the resolution said.