"America and India have reached a moment of great opportunity," Deputy Secretary of State William Burns said in his brief remarks at a reception hosted by the House of Representative Caucus on India and Indian Americans for Nirupama Rao, the new Indian Ambassador to the US.
"With your support and that of all of our colleagues in the Congress our two countries can shape for the better of not only the future of our own societies but of the entire international community and the new century unfolding before us," Burns said.
Burns is expected to visit India later this month for talks with his Indian counterparts on a wide range of issues. Formal dates have not been announced yet.
Praising Rao for her role in improving India's relations with Pakistan, Burns said she is an extraordinary diplomat.
"As foreign secretary, India's most senior foreign career diplomat Ambassador Rao helped shaped every advance we made in US-India relations in recent years," he said." Ambassador Rao embodies the intellect, the energy and the creativity that is powering India's rise."
The top American diplomat congratulated the House India Caucus and its leadership for bringing the two countries closer together.
"It truly is a mark of broad support that our relationship with India enjoy that the House and Senate caucuses are among the largest if not the largest bipartisan caucuses in the Congress today. That's support from across the political spectrum has helped drive truly remarkable trajectory in US-India relations across the past decade," Burns said.
