Indo-us ties will be of great significance in future: Modi
Blinken conveys greetings of Biden and Harris, expresses strong commitment to further deepen strategic relations in various sectors including trade defence and maritime security
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday that the India-us Strategic Partnership will be of even greater global significance in the coming years, in the context of the challenges posed by COVID-19, global economic recovery and climate change.
Modi made these remarks in a meeting with visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Blinken conveyed greetings of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to Modi.
He briefed Modi on his fruiful exchanges with External Affairs Minister S Jaishakar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval earlier in the day and expressed strong commitment to further deepen India-us strategic relations in various sectors including defence, maritime security, trade & investment, climate change, and science & technology.
The prime minister conveyed his warm greetings to Biden and Harris and his appreciation for the initiatives taken by Biden including those related to the Quad, COVID-19 and climate change.
Blinken appreciated the increasing convergence between India and US on a wide range of bilateral and multilateral issues, and the commitment of both strategic partners to convert this convergence into concrete and practical cooperation.
Prime Minister Modi said that the societies of US and India share a deep commitment to the values of democracy, freedom and liberty, and the Indian diaspora in the US has contributed immensely to the enhancement of bilateral ties.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday urged Modi to reopen the Kartarpur Corridor, in view of the improvement in the COVID-19 situation, to facilitate people’s visit to the historic shrine in Pakistan.
In a leter to the Prime Minister, Amarinder Singh said his government would be happy to work in conjunction with the Centre to ensure adherence to proper virus protocols, including testing and vaccination of pilgrims using the corridor.
Separately, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday met interim Congress President Sonia Gandhi here and discussed the current political situation in the country as well as the Pegasus snoopgate row.
Former Congress president and Sonia’s son, Rahul Gandhi, was also present during the meeting.
The meeting was held at Sonia Gandhi’s residence at 10 Janpath here.
Ater the meeting, Banerjee said that she was invited for tea by the Congress chief and that Rahul Gandhi was also present there.
“We discussed the current political situation, Pegasus and the Covid condition, besides discussing opposition unity,” Banerjee said.
The West Bengal Chief Minister also termed the meeting as positive, saying that the results will be seen in the coming days.
She said the Pegasus spyware row was also discussed in the meeting, and asked why the government is not responding to the alleged snooping charges.
“If the Pegasus issue is not discussed in the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha, where will it be discussed? The government should answer,” she said.
Talking about opposition unity, the Trinamool Congress supremo said, “Everyone has to come together to defeat the BJP. Alone, we (Trinamool) are nothing; everyone has to work together.” Asked if she would be the face of the opposition in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Banerjee said, “I am not a leader, I am a worker. I am a person from the streets. All the opposition parties will sit together and decide who will lead the fight against (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi.
“I want to see ‘sachche din, bahut achche din dekh liya’ (I want to see truthful days, seen enough of good days). Now ‘khela’ (game) will happen in the whole country.” Later on Wednesday evening, Banerjee is expected to meet Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
On Tuesday, she had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Ater the meeting, Banerjee had said, “It was a courtesy meeting. I told the Prime Minister about the need for more vaccines and medicines in West Bengal. I also raised the pending issue of change of name of the state, to which the Prime Minister said he will see.” On Tuesday, she had also met Congress leaders Kamal Nath and Anand Sharma, among others.