Manmohan, Bush pledge to boost trade cooperation

New Delhi, Mar 2: The captains of industry of India and the US today presented a joint report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President George W Bush, laying the roadmap for strengthening economic and trade cooperation.

After completing their delegation-level talks, both Dr Singh and Mr Bush told reporters that the two countries would promote the private sector initiatives.

''We had some really constructive dialogue which is a reflection of the warm and result-oriented relashipship,'' said Mr Bush.

The Indo-US CEO Forum was created after the July 18 visit of Dr Singh to the US. Ten CEOs from each country attended the meeting today.

''The President and I have just concluded the discussions and we shared some of our views,'' said Dr Singh.

The CEO Forum was established last year to promote private sector initiatives for a long term roadmap for economic and trade cooperation.

Dr Singh said some of the recommendations of the Forum have been implemented and some others were discussed.

The leaders were confident of moving forward with the other recommendations. ''Once we figure out the differences, we will remove the roadblocks,'' said Mr Bush.

Among those present from the Indian side were Forum co-chairperson and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and industrialists Mukesh Ambani, Ratan Tata and Kiran Majumdar Shaw.

Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice were also present along with National Security Adviser M K Narayanan and Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister TKA Nair.

UNI