India-US strategic ties to ensure world peace: US official

The "strategic relationship" between the US and India would go a long way towards ensuring peace and prosperity worldwide, a visiting Indian-origin US official said Wednesday.

Punit Talwar, assistant secretary, US Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Wednesday termed the growing India-US ties "good not only for the two nations but the entire world", and said "these are the times of great possibilities".

Addressing a conference here on "US-India defence relations and areas for cooperation", Talwar, who is here with a US defence delegation, said all unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles that come in the way of implementing deals will be removed soon and discussions relating to it were already on among the departments concerned.

"Both the countries have complex systems but it is doable and we will do it," he said.

He praised India's role in international peacekeeping and maritime security missions.

"This strategic relationship between the US and India would go a long way in ensuring peace and prosperity world wide," Talwar said.

On whether the ties between the two nations were those of buyer and seller, he said it was not so.

"It's a growing relationship and we are not dealing with each other in defence related matters only. There are other areas of cooperation where both nations would benefit from each other," Talwar said, adding that thousands of Indian students go to the US every year and this people-to-people contact was the backbone of the ties.

He said joint venture in arms making was also looking up between the two countries.

--India-Asia News Service

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