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India considers its mutually beneficial relationship with the United States to be one of its foremost foreign policy priorities, visiting External Affairs Minister SM Krishna told US President Barack Obama today. Speaking during a reception hosted by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in his honour' Krishna said: "Mr President, we consider the mutually beneficial relationship with the United States to be one of our foremost foreign policy priorities," "There are few relationships in the world that have so much potential as India-US relations, because, I believe, that our cooperation is not only for great mutual benefit, but is destined to have a strong impact on global peace, prosperity and stability in the 21st century," he added. Mr. President, as India regains the momentum of our economic growth, new opportunities are emerging to empower rural communities, especially women. Time and again, we have seen in other developing countries, he said "We are pleased that you, with your deep personal links with the Asia-Pacific region, are taking strong interest in the future of this rapidly evolving region," he added. "We believe that India can be a dependable anchor of the region's growth," Krishna asserted. Referring to Afghanistan, Krishna said India is committed to that country's development and supporting the Afghan people in their efforts to build capacity and assume the rightful responsibilities for governance, security and development. "With international support, they will succeed in their efforts," he added. He said the Strategic Dialogue has further increased the two sides' understanding on the nature and source of terrorism that threatens both the societies. "This dialogue is a unique forum that really brings together all the different threads of our extraordinarily wide agenda and allows us to look at the entire relationship in an integrated, strategic fashion," he added. He further said the two sides are pleased with the way the counter-terrorism cooperation has progressed. " Today we have agreed to intensify it forwards," he added.

Ties with US, India's foremost priority: Krishna