Washington: Welcoming the appointment of Manmohan Singh as the new Prime Minister of India, the White House has said that it was looking forward to working with him to further strengthening Indo-US relations.

"We warmly welcome the news that Dr Singh will lead India's new Government," President George W Bush's Press Secretary Scott McClellan said yesterday (May 20, 2004).

"We look forward to working with him and his team to further strengthen the US-India partnership, which is based on our common democratic values and our shared interests. So we look forward to working with him," he said.

Asked whether Bush had "spoken with him or anybody in India", McClellan said "Not at this time."

The US State Department has also hailed "the smooth transition of power taking place in New Delhi" as "a hallmark of this large and vibrant democracy". "The US looks forward to engaging with the new Prime Minister and his team on a broad array of substantive issues that will strengthen and deepen our relationships," the State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.

"We congratulate Dr Singh on his selection as India's next Prime Minister," he said.

"We look forward to continuing with him the strong bilateral relationship which we have enjoyed with the previous Government in India," he said.

Referring to Indo-Pakistan relations, Boucher said, "As you know from the statement that the Secretary made yesterday with Foreign Minister Kasuri of Pakistan, we look forward to having good relations with Pakistan and with India and also to seeing the continuation of the efforts that our two friends have made to find common ground and resolve longstanding differences."

"We have been pleased to see people on both sides reiterate their commitment to the process. So I don't think I would make any observations about that other than to say that it seems people on both sides want to continue (the process)", Boucher said.