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United States President George W Bush is planning an early visit to India, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told a visiting delegation of the Confederation of Indian Industry.
Armitage also indicated that sanctions against India would be lifted soon, said CII President Sanjiv Goenka.
"Armitage was gung-ho, very positive," Goenka said.
Armitage said the Bush administration is working with Congress to lift the sanctions and hoped they would be lifted in a fairly short time.
"It is not an issue. So far as we are concerned, [the sanctions] have been lifted," Goenka said quoting Armitage.
The deputy secretary said, "There is scope for a new US-India relationship and the entire government machinery has been directed by President Bush to work towards that end," Goenka told Indian journalists in Washington.
Describing India and the United States as natural allies, Armitage expressed Washington's desire to have a special relationship with India, which is long-term and sustainable, the CII president said.
Armitage, he said, stressed that bilateral relations of the two largest democracies in the world are not a function of a third party and stand on their own, indicating that they remain uninfluenced by Washington's relations with China or Pakistan.
He said the US believes there is scope for new areas of cooperation, for setting out a new agenda, particularly in areas of biotechnology and genetics, energy, agriculture, trade and defence.
Goenka said the delegation found "some concerns" about the Enron dispute, but pointed out that Prime Minister A B Vajpayee has said that he has issued instructions that the Enron issue be resolved speedily.
The delegation comprised Arun Bharat Ram, Goenka's predecessor at the CII; Tarun Das, its director general; Subroto Bagchi, Y C Deveshwar, Jagdish Khattar and Kiran Pasricha, senior director of the CII in Washington.
The delegation met high-level officials of the US administration, including Christina Rocca, the assistant secretary of state for South Asia; Alan Larson, undersecretary of state for economic, business and agricultural affairs; Grant Aldonas, undersecretary of commerce for international trade.
It also held discussions with World Bank vice-president Nishimizu; co-chairman of the India Caucus Ed Royce and several congressmen.
Goenka said this was "one of the best visits any Indian delegation has had".
"At every meeting we had, at every level, India was looked at with a new respect by the US administration. This is something both countries must build on and develop," he added.
Ram said the CII, which already has 10 offices abroad, is opening five more -- in China, Hong Kong, Hungary, Israel and Malaysia -- to promote better understanding and trade relations.
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