Washington: The United States has said that it expects continued close cooperation with India under the new Government headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

"The effect of elections in India on the US-India relationship is that it is not going to change," US Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca said yesterday (June 22, 2004).

"We certainly had very, very positive comments on the part of almost all the new leaders in India that they want to continue this relationship, that they want to continue to move it forward as fast as it was moving before. And we are encouraged by that and we hope that that will continue like that," Rocca said.

She was speaking at a hearing on South Asia by a subcommittee of the International Relations Committee.

"We are continuing cooperation on regional and bilateral issues. External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh visited Washington recently and had excellent meetings with Secretary Powell," she said in a prepared statement.

"Our bilateral Defence Policy Group met three weeks ago in New Delhi, and joint exercises and military exchanges continue to increase our Next Steps in Strategic Partnership, an initiative designed to deepen US-India relationship, and this week Bangalore is hosting the US-India Space Conference."

Elaborating on close cooperation between the two countries in various fields, Rocca said, "The United States and India share a fundamental commitment to democracy. We hope to work more closely together to promote democracy, especially in problematic countries like Burma."