Unanimous US senate resolution welcomes Manmohan Singh

As Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrives here Thursday for his third summit Friday with President Barack Obama, the US Senate has passed a resolution welcoming him "for meetings to advance the United States-India partnership".

Recognising Manmohan Singh's role in "undertaking a series of reforms designed to strengthen the Indian economy and transform the bilateral economic relationship into a true strategic partnership", the resolution said his visit provided a "timely opportunity to reinforce the United States-India relationship".

The resolution was initiated by the co-chairs of the Senate India Caucus, Democrat Mark Warner and Republican John Cornyn, who were joined as sponsors by the Democratic Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Robert Menendez.

The resolution said that the Senate "looks forward to making progress on a range of issues to deepen and broaden the strategic partnership between India and the United States".

It welcomes continued progress towards a Bilateral Investment Treaty, supports progress and implementation of the landmark United States-India civil nuclear agreement.

Acknowledging that the progress made by the Indian government "on economic reforms has opened new channels for foreign direct investment", the resolution says "it believes further liberalisation can bring increased prosperity to both countries".

The resolution "recognises there is strong potential to grow the bilateral relationship and increase cooperation between the United States and India, elevating the relationship to an even stronger strategic partnership".

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)