U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Tuesday that the United States and India must work together on rebalancing global growth and a more stable financial system. After opening bilateral economic partnership talks here, Geithner said in a prepared statement that the United States and India "need to work more closely together". "Our ability to cooperate on economic and financial issues will be critically important to the success of global efforts to create conditions for a more stable global financial system, more balanced global economic growth that is less dependent on the willingness of Americans to live beyond our means, more effective and representative international financial institutions, and a more open global trading system." Geithner lauded India's handling of its economy through the financial crisis, saying it was emerging stronger and faster than most large economies, adding that prospects for both the United States and Indian economies were "encouraging" in the face of global recovery. "While (U.S.) unemployment remains unacceptably high, the private sector has added jobs during four of the past five months, private investment is increasing, productivity growth is very high, the financial system is recovering, private savings have improved, and our economy is now borrowing significantly less from the rest of the world," Geithner said. On his part, Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee outlined challenges ahead for India's economy and policy reforms the country is taking to raise the rate of overall growth. "India has a dynamic entrepreneurial private sector, a demonstrated ability to compete in the global market, and a commitment to quality higher education," Geithner said. "With those strengths and the minister's proposed reforms, India's economic growth, already impressive, will be even stronger in the future." Geithner on Wednesday will travel to Mumbai to meet with Indian entrepreneurs and corporate chief executives.
