March 23, 2001
Washington, DC

Ambassador Lalit Mansingh who arrived in Washington last week to take up his assignment as Ambassador of India to the United States, today called on U.S. Secretary of State, Mr. Colin Powell to present a copy of his Letter of Credence. The meeting lasted nearly thirty minutes. The Secretary of State warmly welcomed Ambassador Mansingh and recalled his earlier successful tenure of duty in Washington. He described India as a highly impressive democracy and expressed readiness to expand bilateral relations in every area.

Ambassador Mansingh assured the Secretary of State of India's fall commitment to achieve the goals and objectives jointly identified by the two countries. Reiterating that India and U.S. are natural allies, the Ambassador touched upon several areas of bilateral cooperation, agreed in the Vision Statement signed between the two countries and elaborated in the dialogue architecture.

They discussed the forthcoming visit of External Affairs Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh. Secretary Powell stated that he was looking forward to a full discussion on a whole range of issues with the Minister of External Affairs. Ambassador Mansingh emphasized that this gesture reflects the importance attached by both sides to the bilateral relationship and underlines the desire to build on the solid foundation laid during the high level exchange of visits last year.