As India braces for the general elections, the United States has sought to stress that it is not taking a position on the country’s future leadership. “It’s worth repeating: We don’t take a position on the future of leadership in India. Obviously, that’s up to the people of India,” said State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki in comments on the eve of senior US diplomat Nisha Desai Biswal’s India visit.
Psaki made the comment while responding to a question on whether Biswal would be meeting any of the Opposition leaders in the course of her engagements in New Delhi. “I don’t have any plans for that in my list. But obviously, we’re meeting with a range of officials,” she said.
Biswal, the US’s first-ever Indian-origin point person for South Asia at the State Department, is making her first visit to India in her new capacity. Biswal, whose parents migrated to the US from Gujarat, was to have undertaken the visit in January, but it had to be put off indefinitely because of the diplomatic rift in the wake of the Devyani Khobragade controversy.
Biswal is carrying a message from Secretary of State John Kerry to stress the importance of the US-India relationship, Psaki said, adding: “We want to move past disagreements we’ve had because we have so many issues that are important for us to work closely on. So that is the purpose of her trip, and obviously she has an expansive itinerary while she’s there.”
In New Delhi, Biswal will be meeting senior officials to discuss “the full range of bilateral and regional issues, including our shared defence, security, and economic engagement”. “We’re a proud partner with India on virtually every field of human endeavour, from innovative solutions, to poverty and disease control, to space exploration and counter-terrorism,” Psaki said, terming Biswal’s visit “an important trip for us”.