By resolving some geopolitical issues during the recent Washington visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, India and the US have made their business climate more conducive for cooperation, experts said Monday.

"The July 18 joint statement for me was the culmination of an 11-year voyage for US-India relations to take a historic turn," said Frank G. Wisner, vice chairman of insurance major American International Group (AIG), referring to the declaration reached during Manmohan Singh's US visit.

The decision by India and the US to cooperate in nuclear energy, space and high technology, and the setting up of the India-US Chief Executives' Forum removed some of the barriers to bilateral ties that existed earlier, Wisner added.

"Economic cooperation needs a setting and what the prime minister's visit did was to create that setting," the former US ambassador to India told a meeting organised here by the US-India Business Council.

The prime minister had visited the US from July 17-20 during which the two sides unveiled a far-reaching joint statement on a host of issues after official talks with the President George Bush and key members of his administration.

"The story in the United States these days is 'India has arrived'," said Chip Kaye, chairman of the council and co-president of global investment banking and consultancy major, Warburg Pincus.

"It's been remarkable to see the progress made in India in the last five years and the desire among Indian companies for increased global integration," Kaye said, adding that these issues became talking points after Manmohan Singh's visit.

He said new opportunities for ties will now open up in areas such as defence cooperation, co-manufacturing, energy security, agriculture, food processing, retail trade, infrastructure and intellectual property rights.

"As India story unfolds, not just large companies, but small and medium units see an opportunity as well. Small and medium companies in the US do not have India on their radar screen yet. But huge opportunities exist," Kaye added.

Vikram S. Mehta, chairman of the Shell Group in India, said while the India-US Chief Executives forum formed during the prime minister's visit was a landmark in itself, it was supplemented by an agreement to cooperate on several fronts.

He listed them as HIV/AIDS, science and technology, disaster management, relief and mitigation, and civilian nuclear energy.

Mehta added that issues like intellectual property, energy security and visas need to be addressed now.