President Joe Biden on Wednesday congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his electoral victory, with his administration saying that it was looking forward to continuing to further its partnership with India to promote prosperity and innovation, address the climate crisis and ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
Biden, who is currently travelling to France, personally made a phone call to Modi to congratulate him.
"Congratulations to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the National Democratic Alliance on their victory, and the nearly 650 million voters in this historic election. The friendship between our nations is only growing as we unlock a shared future of unlimited potential," he said in a social media post later.
“The friendship between our nations is only growing as we unlock a shared future of unlimited potential,” Biden said on X, which was soon followed by similar congratulatory messages by other senior members of his administration, including Secretary of State Tony Blinken.
In a post tagging Biden on X, Prime Minister Modi said he was happy to receive the call from his "friend".
"Deeply value his warm words of felicitations and his appreciation for the Indian democracy. Conveyed that India-US Comprehensive Global Partnership is poised to witness many new landmarks in the years to come. Our partnership will continue to be a force for global good for the benefit of humanity," Modi said.
In his congratulatory message on X, Blinken said, “The U.S. Looks forward to advancing our partnership with the Indian government and commends the estimated 650 million voters who exercised their right to vote.”
State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said that the US congratulates Prime Minister Modi and the National Democratic Alliance on their victory in the 2024 Lok Sabha general elections.
"With approximately 650 million voters casting their ballots over the past six weeks, these elections represent the largest exercise in democracy in human history. We commend Indian voters, poll workers, civil society, and journalists for their commitment and vital contributions to India's democratic processes and institutions,” Miller said.
"We look forward to continuing to further our partnership with the Indian government to promote prosperity and innovation, address the climate crisis, and ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific region,” he said.
Miller said the US will continue to look to expand its partnership with India.
"We work with India on economic matters. We worked with them to deepen people-to-people ties between our two countries. And of course, we work with them on a free, secure, prosperous Indo-Pacific. Those will continue to be our priorities,” he told reporters at his daily news conference.
Responding to a question on India's democracy, which many in the US doubted during the election process, Miller said: “India is, of course, the world's largest democracy, and the election that just played out over the last six weeks was the largest exercise of democracy in the history of the world. And we commend the government of India, voters, and poll workers for this massive undertaking.”
Richard Verma, Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources, congratulated Indian voters, poll workers, civil society and all those who contributed "to this democratic process". “Look forward to continuing to work with” Prime Minister Modi and “the National Democratic Alliance to further our US India partnership for regional peace and security,” he said.
India's 2024 Lok Sabha general elections were the largest exercise of democracy in history, said Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell. “We look forward to continuing our work with the people of India and the newly elected government of Narendra Modi and the National Democratic Alliance to advance US India ties,” he said.
In a statement, USIBC Global Board of Directors chair and NASDAQ Executive Vice Chairman Edward Knight congratulated Modi on his re-election and securing another mandate.
“We also applaud the people of India for demonstrating to the world the importance of active engagement in the democratic process as the world's largest democracy. India's global leadership has never been more important and USIBC looks forward to continuing to deepen our partnership.
“The US business community, facilitated by the US government, continues to be vitally engaged with India and its business community as we look for more ways to promote growth between our nations,” he said.
USIBS president Atul Keshap said, “This election is truly impressive as the greatest exercise of electoral choice in the history of our species. Yet again, the people of India have shown their great devotion to democracy and human freedom and have inspired the entire world.”
Hundreds of millions of India's citizens have spoken through the ballot, and awarded Prime Minister Modi and the NDA an historic third consecutive mandate. The US-India Business Council congratulates them and all Indians on the successful completion of the Lok Sabha elections, he said.
“We look forward to working with the new government and all of India's elected leaders to expand trade and investment between India and the United States, helping Indians to achieve their aspirations for greater prosperity and development.
“Our shared prosperity hinges on deepening economic ties between India and America, aiming for a bilateral trade target of at least USD 500 billion annually between the world's two greatest democracies. We remain committed to fostering a US-India partnership rooted in trust and cooperation,” Keshap said.
In his replies to world leaders, including Russia's Vladimir Putin and UK's Rishi Sunak, in their congratulatory messages to him, Modi has underscored the strength of India's relations with their countries and his commitment to further strengthening it.
