After holding three rounds of strategic dialogues, India and the US on Thursday said their ties now had entered a phase of maturity in which there was no longer a need for dramatic breakthroughs that was seen earlier.
The Strategic Dialogue that has taken place with the US in the last three years has been extremely beneficial to India, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna told reporters during a joint press availability with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department, where both the top leaders co-chaired the third India-US Strategic Dialogue.
"If I am to list some of the most important areas where we have moved ahead at the third Strategic Dialogue, I would unhesitatingly single out higher education, science and technology, innovation, women's empowerment and clean energy," he said.
The shared interests and convergence views on a range of regional and global issues that really were evident in the talks today, provides a new momentum for India-US global strategic partnership, Krishna said.
"We go from strength to strength," Clinton said, adding, "We have evidence to prove that our relationship is deepening and broadening."
Clinton said India and the US have a strong foundation of friendship and cooperation.
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"But today, we are seeing something new. The strategic fundamentals of our relationship are pushing our two countries' interests into closer convergence. By strategic fundamentals, I mean not just our shared democratic values, but also our economic imperatives and our diplomatic and security priorities," she said.
"For example in order to grow and prosper in today's world, both the US and India need an open, free, fair and transparent global economic system. We both seek security and stability in South Asia and the Asia-Pacific. And we both see the importance of a coordinated international response to violent extremism and other shared global challenges," she said.
"What does this mean for our partnership? Well, today there is less need for dramatic breakthroughs that marked earlier phases in our relationship, but more need for steady, focused cooperation, aimed at working through our differences and advancing the interests and values we share. This kind of daily, weekly, monthly collaboration may not always be glamorous, but it is strategically significant, and that is, after all, what this dialogue is all about," Clinton noted.
Krishna said today's discussions demonstrated yet again their shared interests and convergent views on a range of regional and global issues.
Responding to questions, Clinton acknowledged that as like any other relationship this too has had its ups and downs.
"I would be never in a position to say we don't have differences. How could two great nations with our histories and our political systems, these raucous, you know, incredibly pluralistic democracies, not have differences? That would be quite odd if that were the case," she said.
"But there's no doubt that our values and our interests are converging, that we have a view of this relationship that is in keeping with the perspectives and histories that bring us together in the 21st century, where we are finding so much more common ground that we are working on together. So I'm very positive about our relationship, and we will continue to work through the differences as they arise," Clinton said.