Doval, Mattis seek to strengthen ties
Washington D.C., March 24: The “intent” of the Trump administration is to continue strengthening Indo-US ties and make sure that it gets stronger every year, defence secretary James Mattis said on Friday as he met visiting Indian national security advisor Ajit Doval at the Pentagon.
Mr Doval stressed on bringing in ideas with “innovative changes” and improvements that serve the interest of the two countries in the region and also globally.
This was Mr Doval’s first meeting with the new US defence secretary, who after taking over had indicated continuation of the upwards trajectory of the Indo-US defence relationship.
“Democracy like ours need this sort of dialogue. We had a strengthening of the relationship over the last several years and no relationship stays the same, either decline or get better and get stronger,” Mr Mattis, the retired General,
US defence secretary James Mattis says the Trump administration is eager to listen to India, and show mutual respect between the militaries of the two democratic countries
said welcoming the Indian delegation led by Mr Doval to the Pentagon including Indian ambassador to the US Navtej Sarna.
“Intent here today is to continue to strengthen the relationship and make sure that it gets stronger every year between the two democracies that have many common interests, many common security challenges,” the defence secretary said.
“We are eager to listen to and learn about each other and show mutual benefit and mutual respect that we have between our militaries. So, in your role as the national security advisor, your ideas are welcome here,” Mr Mattis said in his opening remarks.
Echoing Mr Mattis, Mr Doval stressed that the Narendra Modi government would like to nurture this relationship further.
“We have a special relationship. This is something that we highly value and we would like to nurture further,” said Mr Doval.