Washington: Increased cooperation between India and the US in the fields of high technology, space, and nuclear energy programmes figured prominently in the meeting between External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha and the US House International Relations Committee and Senate Foreign Relations Committee at the Capitol Hill in Washington.

Republican Congressman Ed Royce said both sides felt there was now a "huge opportunity" for Indo-US cooperation.

"Most of our discussion focused on the announcement of increased cooperation in space, high-technology, and nuclear energy programs," Royce said.

"This latest agreement between the United States and India shows that the interests of the world's two most-populous democracies are increasingly converging. We both agreed that this is very promising -- a huge opportunity for India and the United States," Royce, a senior member of the House Committee, said yesterday (Jan 21, 2004).

Having previously authored a legislation to lift the sanctions placed on India in 1998, Royce played an active role in having these burdensome sanctions lifted in 2001.

"I have been pushing for increased cooperation between the US and India in these areas for sometime - it is great to see words turned into actions," said Royce, who chaired the meeting of House members with Sinha.