Indo-US ties on different plane compared US Pakistan

Kolkata Dec 14:Condemning cross-border terrorism targeting India, US Ambassador Richard Verma on Wednesday said the Indo-US ties are on a different plane compared to Washington s "complex" relationship with Pakistan where the focus was on "counter-terrorism"."We have always maintained that cross-border terrorism has to end, and the perpetrators needed to be held accountable," Verma told media persons here to a query on the export of terrorism from Pakistan to India."Our relationship with Pakistan is complex, based on counter-terrorism. With India it is on a different plane," the ambassador said at the Press Club here.Iterating that the Indo-US bilateral relations haveA been at their best over the past two years, he said: "We have relied on each other like never before (during this period)."US has emerged as India s largest trade partner with the two-way trade touching $110 billion, with the two countries now setting a target to increase to $500 billion."There are only a couple of countries which are both our strategic and commercial partners. India is one of them," he said.The final agreement for the India-US Civil Nuclear Deal will be inked next year, while clean energy and climate as emerged as a single most important area of copperation between the two countries."The US and India, the world s to largest democracies, represent 1.6 billion people. if US and India remain good partners, the world will be safe and prosperous," he said.