NEW DELHI — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged India on Tuesday to open markets faster and resolve questions on a civilian nuclear accord that U.S. companies hope could mean billions of dollars in new business.
Clinton opened high-level U.S.-Indian talks with a polite but firm push for New Delhi to get moving on key economic issues as both sides seek to firm up a relationship that thus far has promised more than it has delivered.
"The stakes are high. So it is critical that this dialogue lead to concrete and coordinated steps that each of our governments take to produce real results," Clinton said in her opening remarks at the meeting, the latest in a series of talks aimed at deepening political and economic ties between the United States and the world's second most populous country.
The global economic slowdown has driven U.S. and European companies to look for sales in emerging markets like India.
Clinton's visit will cover a range of bilateral issues including counter-terrorism cooperation, an issue thrown into stark relief by last week's deadly triple bomb attack on India's financial capital Mumbai.
Relations between the two countries have warmed since the end of the Cold War, when India was seen as closer to the old Soviet Union.
She will brief Indian leaders on U.S. plans to draw down troops in Afghanistan — which New Delhi fears may mean a hasty U.S. exit — as well as on India's nuclear-armed rival Pakistan, where the halting battle against Islamic militants has spurred questions about Islamabad's true intentions.
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