BIDEN RESPECTS SUCCESSFUL TIES WITH INDIA, SAYS WHITE HOUSE

WASHINGTON/NEW DELHI: The leadership of India and the US have reaffirmed their commitment to continue and strengthen the bilateral partnership, with a White House spokesperson saying President Joe Biden “respects and values” the “long, bipartisan, successful” ties between leaders of the two sides.

Biden, who has visited India many times, “respects and values the long, bipartisan, successful relationship between leaders in India and the US” and “looks forward to a continuation of that”, White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said on Thursday.

In New Delhi, external affairs ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava told a news briefing that the Indian side will continue to engage the new US administration to build on ties and tackle common global challenges..

The leadership of India and the US have reaffirmed their commitment to continue and strengthen the bilateral partnership, with a White House spokesperson saying President Joe Biden “respects and values” the “long, bipartisan, successful” ties between leaders of the two sides.

Biden and PM Modi have spoken once since the American leader’s election last November, and could again soon as the president begins calling counterparts in allied and partner countries. Biden will start making these calls on Friday, with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau being the first.

Biden, who has visited India many times, “respects and values the long, bipartisan, successful relationship between leaders in India and the US” and “looks forward to a continuation of that”, White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said at the daily news briefing on Thursday.

As proof of Biden’s support for the ties, Psaki brought up vice president Kamala Harris: “Obviously, he selected...the first Indian American to serve as president or vice president, certainly a historic moment for all of us in this country, but further, you know, cementing of the importance of our relationship.”

Harris’s mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, came to the US from Chennai, and her father, Donald Harris, from Jamaica.

In New Delhi, external affairs ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said the Indian side will continue to engage the US administration to build on ties and tackle global challenges.

Policymakers and experts in the US and India are eager to know its approach to India. Republican senator Mitt Romney asked Antony Blinken, the nominee for secretary of state, about it at a confirmation hearing by the Senate foreign relations committee on Tuesday.

Blinken said given all that was done by previous administration, “one area I think that has a lot of promise, and maybe even necessity, is actually climate”. He added, “At the current rate, India is poised... to catch up to China in terms of the emissions.” The Joe Biden-led US government has applauded India for sending supplies of Covid vaccine to a host of S Asian nations. “India’s a true friend using its pharma to help the global community,” the US State Department’s account for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs tweeted.