India and US move forward to advance bilateral relations

Washington, Feb 21: US National Security Advisor Susan Rice and Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar has agreed to sustain the momentum of bilateral relationship between the two countries, generated after the recent visit to India by President Barack Obama, the White House has said.

Rice congratulated Jaishankar on his recent promotion and affirmed that she looks forward to working with him to further advance the Indo-US relationship, the White House said on Friday.

This was Jaishankar's first meeting with Rice after he was elevated to the post of Foreign Secretary from the Indian Ambassador to the US.

"They agreed to sustain the momentum generated by the President's visit to India for Republic Day and to follow up on key issues, including implementation of civil nuclear cooperation and clean energy and climate cooperation," said Bernadette Meehan, Spokesperson of National Security Council.

"They also exchanged views on regional events and agreed that the United States and India will engage in more frequent and deeper consultations on global and multilateral issues," Meehan said.

PTI