US President Barack Obama is committed to further intensifying relationship with India and the recent visit of a top American defence official is reflective of the depth of the ties, the White House has said.
“The President, as he discussed on his trip to India back in January, is committed to further intensifying the relations between our two countries,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters at his daily news conference.
Referring to the just concluded visit of Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, he said this is reflective of the depth of the relationship between the US and India.
“So many of the issues that we often talk about are related to how we can expand economic opportunity in both of our countries,” he said.
“There’s also an opportunity for us to deepen our security cooperation, and that was the subject of some discussion when Secretary Carter was in India earlier this week,” Earnest said.
Carter’s trip, he said, is a pretty clear indication of the national security priority that the President has placed on enhancing the security cooperation between the US and India.
He also noted that US Ambassador to India Richard Verma has strengthened relations between the two countries in a short period of time.
“He’s been a very effective advocate for the American people over in India,” he said.
US lauds Modi's active diplomatic efforts
Through his active diplomatic efforts in the last one year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is signalling that India will be a player on the global stage for years to come, according to a top American diplomat.
“In foreign policy India has been on the move. In the past year the PM has reached out not just to the US, but has visited over 18 countries and 33 cities,” US Ambassador to India Richard Rahul Verma has said.