Thursday, May 19 2005 09:10 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: The US and India have decided to harness their "transformed bilateral relationship" to jointly address global challenges like organised crime, trafficking in narcotics and persons linked to international terrorism and illegal arms trade, as also to use cleaner and efficient energy sources.

The decisions were taken after a meeting of the US-India Global Issues Forum in Washington on Tuesday (May 17, 2005), in which visiting Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran led the Indian delegation.

"The two delegations held a productive exchange of views and discussed new and expanded areas for US-India cooperation on global affairs. These included issues related to protection of the environment, sustainable development, protection of the vulnerable, combating transactional organized crime, and promotion of democratic values and human rights," said a joint statement issued after the meeting.

"The Forum deliberations underlined the need for continued cooperation on protecting the global environment, including the use of cleaner and more efficient energy sources."

"Recognizing the global ramifications of trafficking in illegal narcotics and persons and their nexus with international terrorism and the illegal arms trade, the two Governments reaffirmed their determination to enhance collaborative efforts in these areas," it said.

The meeting, in which the US delegation was led by Under Secretary of Global Affairs Paula J Dobriansky, stressed that the "transformed bilateral relationship" between the two countries.

The dialogue explored further efforts by both countries to promote democratic values and human rights globally through the United Nations, the Community of Democracies and other international forums, the statement said.

"These discussions were held in the context of efforts by the United States and India to harness their transformed bilateral relationship to addressing together global challenges and key international issues."

The Forum was initiated in New Delhi in October 2002.