New Delhi, Jan 6 (IANS) A five-member Congressional delegation led by Senator Mark Warner, co-chair of the India Caucus, begins a weeklong visit to the country Saturday to explore fresh avenues for expanding business, trade, defence and cultural ties between the two countries.

The delegation, headed by Warner, will also include US Senators Michael Bennet (Colorado) and Tom Udall (New Mexico), and Representatives Joseph Crowley (New York) and Cedric Richmond (Louisiana). Crowley is co-chair of the US House of Representatives' India Caucus.

The 57-year-old Warner, a former governor of Virginia, is known to be a friend of New Delhi in Washington and was elected co-chair of the India Caucus over a year ago.

The Congressional delegation will meet top government and business leaders in New Delhi, Jaipur, Hyderabad, and Kolkata.

"They will conduct dozens of meetings with leading executives of India's security, energy, and IT industries to explore export and investment opportunities between the two nations," said the US embassy in a statement.

"The delegation also will learn more about education, child health, food safety and water purification efforts in different regions of India," the embassy said.

"We have reached a point where it is time for the US-India relationship to advance from a longtime friendship to a full partnership, and I look forward to identifying and pursuing additional opportunities for our two nations to work more closely together," said Warner in a statement ahead of his visit.

Some of the important highlights of the trip by US Congressmen include a visit to a National Basketball Association-sponsored camp for young people in New Delhi, the announcement of a new partnership between the Virginia Community College System and a leading nonprofit foundation to expand the training curriculum for skilled trades within India, and the Confederation of Indian Industry's Partnership Summit in Hyderabad.