Washington, March 5 - US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will travel to India in early April to take part in the first US-India Economic and Financial Partnership meeting, designed to strengthen ties between the two countries.

"The newly-formed partnership aims to strengthen bilateral engagement and understanding on macroeconomic, financial sector and infrastructure-related issues," the Treasury Department said announcing the visit Thursday.

During the meeting April 6, cabinet officials from the two countries will meet to discuss economic policy, the banking sector and infrastructure spending.

President Barack Obama announced the partnership modelled on similar dialogue with China during Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's state visit last November.

This would be Geithner's first visit to India as treasury secretary. Geithner who had spent his childhood in Mumbai would also meet Indian and American business leaders in Mumbai April 7.

Both countries recognise the importance of expanding bilateral economic engagement, noting the rapid growth of US-India economic ties and the increasing range of global macroeconomic and financial issues on which the US and India cooperate, the Treasury Department said.

The Economic and Financial Partnership is a significant elevation of existing bilateral and multilateral economic dialogue between the US and India, and will serve as a platform for greater cooperation on economic issues of importance to both nations.

The partnership will focus on three broad areas for discussion - macroeconomic policy, the financial sector and infrastructure financing - and will meet at the cabinet level, alternately in the US and India, led by Geithner and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

Working group and sub-cabinet level meetings will be held throughout the year to advance discussions on specific economic policy areas.

"India is an emerging global power and a country with which the United States has an increasingly important economic and financial relationship," Geithner had said in a statement Nov 24 on the formation of the partnership.

"I look forward to working closely with my Indian counterparts through the partnership to advance cooperation on the growing number of economic issues of interest to our two nations," Geithner said. (IANS)