Thaindian News

Washington, June 4 (ANI): The United States and India have called for a balanced and ambitious conclusion to the Doha Development Round, consistent with its mandate.

As members of the G 20, they agreed to advance the G 20 understandings, including with regard to energy security and resisting protectionism in all its forms, a joint statement issued after the first US-India Strategic Dialogue held here said.

External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton noted that both Governments have taken steps to strengthen their bilateral engagement and understanding in three broad areas - macroeconomic policy, financial sector, and infrastructure financing - through the launch of a new Economic and Financial Partnership’ between India’s Ministry of Finance and the Department of the Treasury in April 2010.

They said that the partnership is intended to help both countries to promote strong, sustainable, and balanced growth, as well as share experiences on infrastructure financing and financial sector regulation.

They also took note of the accelerated work under the U.S.-India Trade Policy Forum (TPF) led by the U.S. Trade Representative and India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry.

They said one key result was the signing of a ‘Framework for Cooperation on Trade and Investment’ in March 2010, which, uniquely, is expected to contribute to realizing the further potential in bilateral trade and investment, supporting job creation in both countries.

On the issue of cooperation in strategic and high technology sectors, both said its importance was reflected the Seventh meeting of the High Technology CooperationGroup in Washington in March 2010.

Krishna and Clinton confirmed the shared objective of a strong 21st century partnership in high technology. They committed to approach the issue of export controls in the spirit of the strategic partnership between the two countries.

On agriculture cooperation, both said the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on Agricultural Cooperation and Food Security would increase cooperation in agricultural research, human resources capacity building, natural resource management, agri-business and food processing, and collaborative research for increasing food productivity.

India’s experience with agricultural development in the framework of low capital intensity and diverse conditions, Clinton said offers useful lessons for other developing countries.

They resolved to continue to look for innovative ways to work together to promote agricultural development and reduce rural poverty, promote global food security, and improve weather prediction and crop forecasting capabilities for agricultural purposes in order to improve livelihoods in the rural sectors.

They also pledged to work together to improve the farm to market supply chain, food processing, and agricultural extension programs. (ANI)