Saturday, June 11 2005 10:53 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: Sixty members of US Congress, including Ilena Ros-Lehtinen and Gary Ackerman, Co-Chairs of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, have urged Speaker Dennis J Hastert to hold a joint session for an address by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his upcoming visit next month.

"An official invitation to address a Joint Session of Congress (by Singh) would send an unequivocal message to the Government and people of India that the United States stands in full support of their commitment to democracy, peace and prosperity for all," a letter written to Hastert by the members said.

They pointed out that "India is the world's largest democracy and the second most populous country on the planet. Its economy is already the second fastest-growing in the world and is also the world's fourth largest in terms of purchasing power parity."

They said a joint session of Congress would "allow Prime Minister Singh to share his thoughts directly on India's role as a regional power, its economic development, its progress towards religious tolerance, and the benefits of increased economic, security and cultural cooperation between India and the United States."

The Congressmen emphasised Singh's role as the "architect" of India's liberalisation programme and his efforts to resolve "difficult issues" with Pakistan.

"Indeed, Dr Singh made his reputation as the architect of India's original economic liberalisation...when he was Finance Minister. These policies are the foundation upon which India's current impressive economic growth is built," they said.

The letter pointed out that the relationship between India and the United States has made rapid and striking advances in all areas, including economic, political, security, and science and technology.

"Our two countries are cooperating on a range of issues related to regional political and economic stability in the world. We believe this relationship between the world's largest and oldest democracies will get stronger still," it said.

Several past Co-chairs, including Congressmen Joseph Crowley, Joe Wilson and Frank Pallone also supported the idea of joint session.

The members noted that over the past several years, Congress has invited numerous important world leaders to address joint session, including Mexican President Vicente Fox, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

"All Members of Congress share our belief that Prime Minister Singh is equally deserving of this honour," they said.