TIES WITH INDIA INTENSIFIED IN FIRST 100 DAYS OF BIDEN GOVT: U.S.

WASHINGTON: The relationship between India and the United States has intensified in the first 100 days of the Biden administration, a State Department official said here. The engagement between the two countries during this period reflects a global comprehensive partnership, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said, asserting that there has been a concerted focus on India over these 100 days.

“There’s been a concerted focus on India over the past 100 days. President Biden, of course, did make mention of India in his (State of the Union) address last night, and I think you can look at that deep partnership and commitment to partnership through any number of lenses,” Price said at his daily news conference.

Biden himself had an opportunity to speak to Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently. Secretary of State Tony Blinken has engaged with his counterpart, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, several times as well, he said.

There have been several highlevel delegations. Special Envoy on Climate Change John Kerry was in India not all that long ago. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was in India to discuss elements of India-US security cooperation, Price said. “We have engaged with India in a multilateral context as well through the Quad, both at the ministerial level and, for the first time ever, at the leader level,” he said. “I have mentioned our climate cooperation, but also our health cooperation, and this was something that predates the pandemic but has intensified with the onset of the pandemic,” Price said.