New Delhi, Sep 14 - With over half a million Indians going to the US, Ambassador Timothy J. Roemer Monday opened a new consular section at the US embassy here that will smoothen the process of getting American visas and and cement people-to-people ties between the two countries.

'This facility is a reflection of the enduring strength of the US-India relationship,' Roemer said while cutting the ribbon at the new consular section along with Gayatri Kumar, joint secretary in India's external affairs ministry (in charge of the Americas).

'It demonstrates the US' commitment to our expanding people-to-people ties just as we are strengthening our strategic partnership for the prosperity, security, and democratic future of all our citizens,' he said.

This partnership is unshakable, said Roemer, a former Congressman from Indiana.

The new consular section, the US envoy hoped, will deliver services in a quicker and more efficient manner.

He pointed to an exponential growth in travel between the two countries. Over the past five years, non-immigrant visas issued by the US embassy in in India have more than doubled from approximately 275,000 in 2003 to about 560,000 in 2008.

Indians form the largest foreign student population in US colleges and universities since 2001.