New Delhi: US Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said a new economic partnership with India offers "huge opportunities" for both nations as the world recovers from the worst recession since the Second World War.

"We meet at a time of encouraging prospects for the US and Indian economies, and the beginnings of global economic recovery," Geithner said on Monday in remarks prepared for a press conference in New Delhi with Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. "Our economic relationship presents huge opportunities for both India and the United States."

Geithner is focusing on global economic conditions, financial market stability and investment opportunities in infrastructure including roads and ports in his first trip to India as treasury secretary. The visit marks the beginning of US-India talks to strengthen ties, similar to the Strategic Economic Dialogue started in 2006 between the US and China.

Steering its way through

Geithner said India's recovery has been faster and stronger than other large economies, steering its way through the financial crisis with a "steady hand." The Indian economy now benefits from entrepreneurs, global competitiveness and "quality" higher education, he said.

"With those strengths and the minister's proposed reforms, India's economic growth, already impressive, will be even stronger in the future," Geithner said.

Relations between the US and the world's largest democracy have grown since 2005 when former President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh signed an agreement to help the South Asian nation gain access to nuclear technology without joining the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Geithner met Singh and Mukherjee yesterday, as delegations from both countries took part in the first round of the US-India Economic and Financial Partnership to boost trade and investments.

"India and the United States are bound by common values of democracy, market economies and pluralism," Mukherjee said, according to an Indian Finance Ministry press release. "I am confident that this partnership launch will unleash the energy and enterprise of people. It will make the relationship between two nations more vibrant and also help address global challenges."

Already, Indian companies such as the Murugappa Group are buying US coal mines to supply coke to the subcontinent's steel mills, said Ron Somers, president of the US-India Business Council, an affiliate of the US Chamber of Commerce.

PepsiCo, Coca-Cola and H.J. Heinz are among US companies investing in India's citrus, mango and tomato fields to ramp up production and eliminate waste.

‘Back to work'

"They buy the mine, they buy the mineral rights in the mine and they put the American workers back to work," Somers said in an interview. In agriculture, about 40 per cent of India's harvest spoils before it reaches the market because of poor roads, railways and irrigation, he said.

India plans to spend $1 trillion (Dh3.67 trillion) on road building, power generation and airports between 2012 and 2017, which Somers said will create opportunities for US firms to sell technology and investors to finance the expansion.

Earlier in the day, Geithner visited a mobile banking store on a busy street in New Delhi, operated by Eko India Financial Services and State Bank of India. Surrounded by shopkeepers, commuters and onlookers of all ages, he spoke at length with the proprietor and then walked up the street to chat with a banking customer, a man who runs a nearby ironing shop.

"We want to highlight the change and extent of innovation in India," Geithner told reporters. "I don't think India needs any help in this area, but it's good for us to see."

Geithner was to travel to Mumbai yesterday to meet American financial companies and Indian entrepreneurs.

The US wants India to remove curbs on overseas investments to gain more access to the world's second-most populous nation. India restricts the foreign-direct-investment ceiling in local insurance companies at 26 per cent and bars companies such as Wal-Mart Stores from owning retail outlets or buying stakes in supermarket chains.

"Further reform of India's financial sector, including greater foreign participation, is needed to ensure India's continued development," said Rob Nichols, president of the Financial Services Forum, a Washington-based industry group. "Pursuing closer economic ties and cooperation with India, along with greater access to her financial marketplace, is an important economic priority."

The International Monetary Fund in January predicted 2.7 per cent growth in the US economy this year and a 7.7 per cent expansion in India.

Federal Reserve Vice-Chairman Donald Kohn is accompanying Geithner during his visit to New Delhi.

Geithner lived in India for a few years as a child when his father worked with the Ford Foundation.