By Arun Kumar. Washington, United States, 09:31 PM IST

Reiterating its 'deep commitment' to build stronger ties with India, the US Thursday said it looked forward to working with the new Indian government to make its vision of shaping the 21st century together a reality.

President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton 'have both expressed a deep commitment to build stronger ties with India, a commitment based on mutual respect and mutual interest', the new US pointman for South Asia told a panel of the House of Representatives.

As 'Clinton recently put it in her speech before the US India Business Council, we see India as one of the few key partners worldwide who will help us shape the 21st century', said Robert O. Blake, Jr, new assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs.

Noting that the ruling Congress party had won a substantial victory in India in the April-May parliamentary elections, he said: 'They formed a coalition that has supported stronger US-India relationship. We look forward to working with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government to make that vision a reality.'

The US also continued to support dialogue between Indian and Pakistani leaders, he said.

But 'the timing and scope and content of any such dialogue are strictly matters for the Indians and Pakistani to decide', Blake said giving a regional overview of South Asia to the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia.

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

By Arun Kumar (Staff Writer, © IANS)