India and the United States are exploring ways to improve their cooperation and forge new cooperative links in a broad number of areas including homeland security. During a panel discussion in New Delhi, hosted by former Indian Ambassador to Washington, DC, Ronen Sen, entitled “Advancing a Defining Partnership for the 21^st Century,” and reported on by the Economic Times of India, the current Ambassador to Washington, DC, Nirupama Rao talked about India and the US looking at ways to improve both their intelligence sharing mechanisms and forging cooperation in new areas for strengthening homeland security. “We are looking at this moment on how we do a better intelligence and information sharing and also other aspects such as science and technology cooperation on homeland security,” said Ambassador Rao.  Noting that the two countries have already initiated a Ministerial-level dialogue on issues of homeland security, the Ambassador said, “This is one component – intelligence sharing – on which we will see heightened activities in 2013. Constantly new areas of cooperation are being developed on homeland security.”

Ambassador Nancy Powell, US Ambassador to India and also a participant in the panel discussion, said, “Our relation with India is extremely broad which includes trade, commerce, security, defense, and economic aspects. We are having discussion on various issues such as natural gas, renewable energy, nuclear energy, higher education, health, economics and trade.”