US critical part of India's outreach: Foreign Secretary

The new Indian government is ready to step up its engagement with the world for mutual benefit and the partnership with the US is a critical part of this outreach, Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh said today.
Congratulating the US on its 238th Independence Day on July 4, Singh said as both look at the latter half of this year, it is already clear that this will be an extremely busy period for India and the US.
"Producing an agenda that is commensurate with expectations on both sides and the latent potential of our partnership, will be critical.
"If we are to succeed in this endeavour, we will need to work with each other at all levels as partners committed to the same cause and outcomes," she said in her address at a function here.

She added that India celebrates America's Independence Day not just as friends and strategic partners but as fellow democracies that share the same values and the same commitment to preserving those values and beliefs.
"We in India are privileged in just having completed the world's largest democratic exercise. The message our new government brings to the world is of an India that is ready to step up its engagement with the world for the mutual benefit of our people and those of our partner countries," she said.
Singh stressed India's partnership with the US is a critical part of this outreach, spanning as it does, the entire spectrum of bilateral ties from trade and economic ties to partnership in defence and security, energy, science and technology.

"This is a partnership that is destined to grow because each of our countries is integral to the other's interest, to each country's vision of how we see the future and the role we will play in shaping that future in our own distinct ways, as democracies that celebrate diversity and pluralism, as nations driven by the energy and drive of open societies, the power of innovation and the convergence of interests and a shared commitment to global peace and prosperity," she said.