By Arun Kumar and Manish Chand
Washington, Nov 24 (IANS) A day before India and the US unveil an ambitious initiative on education as part of their next phase of strategic partnership, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called for scaling up the cooperation between Indian and American university systems.

“We must work harder to strengthen the university system. We have plans to set up 40 new universities. I see enormous opportunities for the university systems of India and the US to work together,” Manmohan Singh said after addressing top Indian and American businessmen at the US Chamber of Commerce.

The prime minister singled out the deficiency in the quality and quantity of teachers in India as a problem area where enhanced links with America can help.

“Human resource development is the critical part of our development aspirations,” he said.

“We look forward to more intensified cooperation between Indian and American university systems,” Manmohan Singh stressed in response to a question by Rajat Gupta, who broke the ceiling by becoming the first expatriate managing director of multi-national consultancy McKinsey and Company nearly two decades ago.

Looking beyond the transforming nuclear deal, India and the US are set to unveil the next phase of their strategic partnership by enhancing cooperation in areas ranging from agriculture and education to science and technology, green technologies and health.

A Singh-Obama Knowledge Initiative - a partnership that will encompass university education, scholarship, technology and knowledge economy and enhance education linkages will be announced after the talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President Barack Obama Tuesday.