The US has unveiled a new national strategy document that favours cooperative relations with India.
The document describes India as a growing centre of power with which Washington has common strategic interests.
Unveiling President George W Bush's National Strategy for 2004-09, the State Department and the US Agency for International Development described India as a 'centre of power' along with Russia and China.
"The US has undertaken a transformation in its bilateral relationship with India based on a conviction that US interests require a strong relationship with India. We are the two largest democracies, committed to political freedom protected by representative government," the document said.
"India is moving toward greater economic freedom as well. We have a common interest in the free flow of commerce, including through the vital sea lanes of the Indian Ocean. Finally, we share an interest in fighting terrorism and in creating a strategically stable Asia," it noted.
"Differences remain, including over the development of India's nuclear and missile programmes and the pace of India's economic reforms. But while in the past these concerns may have dominated our thinking about India, today we start with a view of India as a growing world power with which we have common strategic interests. Through a strong partnership with India, we can best address any differences and shape a dynamic future."
According to the document, the events of September 11, 2001 'fundamentally changed the context for relations between the United States and other main centres of global power, and opened vast, new opportunities'.
"With our long-standing allies in Europe and Asia, and with leaders in Russia, India, and China, we must develop active agendas of cooperation lest these relationships become routine and unproductive," it said.
According to the document, Russia is no longer a strategic adversary of the US.
With Russia, the US is already building a new strategic relationship based on 'a central reality of the 21st century', it said.
"The Moscow Treaty on Strategic Reductions is emblematic of this new reality and reflects a critical change in Russian thinking that promises to lead to productive, long-term relations with the Euro-Atlantic community and the United States."
The United States relationship with China, says the report, 'is an important part of our strategy to promote a stable, peaceful, and prosperous Asia-Pacific region. We welcome the emergence of a strong, peaceful, and prosperous China'.
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