India and the US Wednesday asked the corporate to play a greater role in accelerating the pace of growing economic ties between the two largest democracies in the world. Addressing a luncheon meeting of Indo-US CEO Forum at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee emphasized the significant role for the corporate sector in taking the Indo-US relationship to an altogether new level as envisioned by US President Barack Obama and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. "Our ultimate aim is to make India a vibrant economy that attracts global capital and trade....In fulfilling this objective all of you have a role to play," Mukherjee was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India. Hillary Clinton said Washington and New Delhi need to catch up with the businesses cooperation between the countries. Underlining the importance of ties with the US, Mukherjee said as India pursued its developmental goals, it would like to work with the US, especially where its priorities converge to the mutual benefit. "We have a unique advantage, which is the existence of strongest possible people-to-people linkages that any bilateral strategic partnership could wish for," he added. Referring to the recently released study reports, Hillary Clinton said the Indian investment in the US since 2004 grew by an estimated 60 per cent, Indian acquisitions have supported approximately 40,000 jobs and manufacturing export to India led to about generation of 96,000 jobs in the US. On the sidelines of the CEOs Forum meeting, Clinton met Mukherjee at the State Department during which the two leaders discussed bilateral relationship.
