Washington: Hailing bilateral cooperation with India, the United States Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources and former American Ambassador to India, Richard Verma said the progress in ties was "unimaginable" a few decades ago.

Appreciating the progress made, Verma cited Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement, that the two nations have now overcome those hesitations of history.

Addressing an event titled 'The United States & India: Milestones Reached and the Pathway Ahead' at the Hudson Institute in the US on Monday (local time), Verma said, "I will say this is exactly the right time to assess where we are in the US-India relationship. We are now entering about a quarter century of progress. Progress that was unimaginable only a few decades ago. For too long, our recent history was not one of cooperation. We were divided by Cold War geopolitics. We lost nearly a generation of progress, from the mid-60s to the late 90s. But as Prime Minister Modi has rightfully pointed out, we have now overcome those hesitations of history."

Verma, who also served as the US Ambassador to India in the past, said the progress in India-US ties has been driven by a change of policies in both New Delhi and Washington.

"The progress was driven by a change of policies in both capitals. This took real leadership and creativity in key sectors like energy, security, and trade. We also faced collective threats to the post-World War II order that spurred much of our new alignment and renewed cooperation," Verma said.

"But at the core, it was the hard work of millions of people in our two countries who pulled us closer together by travelling, studying, researching, developing joint products, and taking the risk to immigrate and start over - a route that led to some now four-and-a-half million Americans of Indian descent contributing to every facet of American life," he added.

The US Deputy Secretary of State also hailed the defence cooperation between the two countries, and said today India is the only country that holds the designation of a "major defence partner of the US."

"Civil-nuclear cooperation led to new advances in defence cooperation. The designation of India as a "Major Defence Partner of the United States," a designation no other nation holds, is a significant marker of our defence relationship, and a testament to strong bipartisan support for the US-India relationship on the Capitol Hill. Our two militaries understand each other," Verma said.

He further emphasised the importance of Quad grouping and the enhanced cooperation and focus in the Indo-Pacific region.

"We are now jointly developing and producing some of the world's most sophisticated systems - all in the name of promoting greater peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. The ripple effects of this cooperation should not be underestimated, especially when integrated into arrangements like the Quad. As Secretary Austin reminds us, our hub and spoke model of security in the Indo-Pacific has become integrated, so those individual spokes now cooperate and collaborate in a more systemic way. And the Quad is a perfect example of such integrated cooperation," the US official added.

The US Deputy Secretary of State also affirmed support for India getting a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council.

"Ambassador Linda Thomas Greenfield, our Ambassador to the United Nations, once again, called for India to have a permanent seat on a reformed United Nations Security Council. We welcome and support India playing a more prominent global leadership role in the institutions that matter," he said.

Noting the progress made in the India-US relations recently, Verma also pointed out that there are challenges that still need to be overcome and not take the recent gains "for granted."

"As I noted, it is our shared values and the commitment to inclusive, pluralistic, democracies that bind us together in special ways and give us the credibility to speak difficult truths to each other as close friends must. So long as we are not complacent, and do not take the recent gains of the past quarter century for granted, then I do believe our years ahead can be even better, even stronger, and even more impactful. That's what President Biden, Vice President Harris, Secretary Blinken, and so many others have been working towards. And I wholeheartedly believe this era of convergence will - and must - continue," he further added.

Richard Verma, recently concluded his official visit to India, following which he expressed optimism about the future of the US-India partnership and said that the visit was "productive."

During his meeting, he met top Indian officials, including External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, Minister of Commerce Piyush Goyal, and senior advisers to the Prime Minister, to discuss US-India strategic cooperation on security, the digital economy, and clean energy supply chains. He also addressed multilateral coordination, including within the Quad.

(With Inputs From Agencies)