The India-US relationship is “strong and getting stronger,” White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby said on Tuesday at a press briefing in New York.
When President Joe Biden looks back at his term he will be most proud of deepening the partnership with India, making it more inclusive and broadening, he added.
"I think one word - well, actually, three words: strong, and getting stronger,” Kirby said responding to a question on how he would characterise the trajectory of bilateral relations under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Biden, whose term ends soon.
Biden has “invested a lot in our bilateral relationship with India.”
He elevated the Quad group of Australia, Japan, India and the US to the leader level and hosted Modi for an official state visit in June last year.
“We’ve elevated our strategic partnership to the highest level. We are pursuing a defence relationship on various systems that will make not just the Indian people safer, but people safer throughout the Indo-Pacific,” Kirby said.
Kirby said Biden “appreciates” the perspective Modi brings to these discussions.
“I mean, he lives in that neighbourhood; he understands it. And of course, he’s the leader of one of the most vibrant democracies in the world.
“So I think as the President looks back at his term, I believe one of the things he’ll be most proud of is deepening this partnership with India, but just as critically, making that partnership more inclusive and broadening it so that it is not just a bilateral – it’s a strong bilateral relationship," he said, PTI reported.
Biden on September 21 hosted Quad leaders Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia, and Prime Minister Kishida Fumio of Japan in Wilmington, Delaware, for the fourth Quad Leaders’ Summit.
Kirby said India, as witnessed in Wilmington, “a full-on member of this Indo-Pacific Quad, is a real contributing partner. And it’s more than just the security. It’s on the economic, it’s on technology, it’s on energy and clean energy transition, and international investments, on so many levels.”
Biden addressed world leaders from the podium of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, delivering his last address as President of the US as his term comes to an end following his decision to pull out from the presidential election.
The US heads into presidential elections in just over a month with Americans set to vote on November 5 and pick either Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris or Republican candidate former president Donald Trump as their next leader.
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