New York: Setting out the roadmap for Indo-US strategic partnership, President George W Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today (Sep 21, 2004) agreed to work closely in the war against terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, asserting that stronger ties between the two countries would enhance global security and prosperity.

In their maiden hour-long meeting at the Presidential Suite at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York, Bush showed "understanding and appreciation" of India's concerns over cross-border terrorism and proliferation while extending support to the ongoing Indo-Pak dialogue process.

A joint statement on 'US-India Partnership: Cooperation and Trust' issued after the talks said both leaders agreed that a stronger partnership between the two countries, acting in concert in international institutions, would enhance global security and prosperity. Briefing reporters on the interaction, Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran said the meeting was "very warm, friendly and relaxed".

The Prime Minister noted that this was one of the few bilateral meetings Bush was having during his short stay in New York which was a testimony to the importance the US attached to strengthening relations with India.

Bush will also be having a breakfast meeting with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf in New York tomorrow (Sep 22, 2004). Musharraf will address the UN General Assembly session tomorrow.

Prime Minister Singh would speak at the world body on September 23 and have a bilateral meeting with Musharraf the next day.

Singh and Bush welcomed the recent implementation of the first phase of the 'Next Steps in Strategic Partnership' (NSSP) including removal of ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) from the Commerce Department's Entity List, seeing it as the "beginning of a new era of cooperation and trust".

"Expanded defence cooperation was perceived as an integral aspect of the expanding ties," the statement said.

The two leaders noted with satisfaction that bilateral relations had never been as close as they were at present and they set the direction for further development of the India-US strategic partnership, it said.

"The best is yet to come," Singh observed while expressing satisfaction over the outcome of his meeting.

The breakfast meeting was attended by US Secretary of State Colin Powell, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and former Ambassador to India, Robert Blackwill who is now in the White House as Bush's chief aide in the National Security Council dealing with Iraq.

The Indian side comprised External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh, National Security Adviser J N Dixit, the Foreign Secretary and India's Ambassador to the US Ronen Sen.

The two leaders exchanged thoughts on their shared global concerns and agreed that making the world a safer place was an "overriding priority".

"They recognised the importance of working closely together in the war against terrorism and in combating proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems," the statement said.

Asked about cooperation in missile defence, Saran said the two sides were talking about "evolving partnership" in this area. The two leaders affirmed their commitment to carry the NSSP process forward.

"With the NSSP, we talked about the two countries cooperating in terms of missile defence...it is also recognised that there is a very significant increase in military-to-military contacts which have been tremendous between the two countries," he said. In response to a question, Saran said the US policy does not focus attention just on terrorism but also in terms of building different set of democratic values beyond the struggle against terrorism.

He said India and the US, both vibrant democracies, shared democratic values and these were the basis for working closely with each other.

The two leaders agreed that policies encouraging greater integration of the two economies and with the global economy would offer opportunities to expand and strengthen their economic partnership.

To this end, the two leaders expressed their desire to strengthen cooperation on international economic issues, including the WTO's Doha Development Agenda, and on the bilateral efforts such as the US-India Economic Dialogue and the High Technology Cooperation Group.