In the past, many Indian and American leaders have worked to expand our bilateral relationship, only to be stymied. No longer: India has proven to be a responsible nuclear power and an anchor of stability in an evolving Asia. The transformation of India-US relations in this new century will endure and intensify. International trends and events are pushing our two great democracies closer rather than apart, and our peoples have a vital stake in cooperation on behalf of our common prosperity and security.

I know that our partnership can help the 21st century become a great age, full of hope. Our predecessors fought in the last century to create a different kind of world, a world in which great nations share basic values and work on issues we all face as humans on a common planet. The opportunity to build that world has never been better. Standing together, India and the United States will do a great deal to shape it.