US Treasury Secy to meet PM, Pranab, Montek on India visit

I / Washington April 1, 2010, 13:18 IST

The US Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, is visiting India next week to further strengthen economic and financial partnership between the two countries.

"President Barack Obama is committed to working more closely with India, a country he describes as an indispensable partner in securing the future prosperity and security of the world," a senior Treasury Department official said on Geithner's India trip.

Geithner's trip to New Delhi and Mumbai on April 6 and 7, ahead of the visit of US President Barack Obama would focus of three broad areas: macroeconomic policy, the financial sector and infrastructure financing.

Geithner is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

The US Treasury Secretary will also meet with a group of top Indian CEOs to learn more about the views of the business community on growth and job creation in the US and in India, the treasury official said.

A senior official of the US Treasury Department said the US is also looking at what lessons it can learn from the Indian experience as the Obama Administration is gearing up to further strengthen and modernize the country’s infrastructure.

"We will be discussing infrastructure needs in the United States and we'll be seeing if there are lessons to be learned from India's experience with meeting infrastructure challenges," the official said.

The long-term investment in the infrastructure sector would be one of the major areas of discussions between the countries when Geithner visits India next week, he added.