Biden administration embraces India’s advent as a leading global power

The Biden administration on Tuesday 9th February said that India is one of the most important alliances of the US in the Indo-Pacific region. It congratulates India’s arrival as a leading global power and its responsibility of being a net security provider in the region.

“India is one of the most important partners in the Indo-Pacific region to us. We welcome India’s emergence as a leading global power and its role as a net security provider in the region,” State Department Spokesperson Ned Price told reporters during his daily news conference.

Ahead in the day, he said, Secretary of State Tony Blinken spoke with his Indian equivalent, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, for the second time within a fortnight. During the call, the two leaders restated the power of the US-India partnership and talked over issues of mutual concern, including the situation in Myanmar.

Blinken communicated concern over the military coup and the significance of rule of law and the democratic process in Myanmar.

They also discussed regional development incorporating the value of US-India cooperation across the Indo-Pacific. “Both sides look forward to expanded regional cooperation, including through the Quad, and to address the challenges of COVID-19 and climate change,” Price said.

Price said the US-India Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership is broad along with being multi-faceted in response to a question.

He told reporters, “We’ll continue to engage at the highest levels of our government to deepen cooperation on many fronts, and we are confident that the strong and upward trajectory of our partnership will, in fact, continue.”

India and the US, he said, work together on a wide spectrum of diplomatic and security issues, such as defence, nonproliferation, regional cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, counterterrorism, peacekeeping, the environment, health, education, technology, agriculture, space and oceans.

“We also work closely in international organisations, and we welcome India joining the Security Council in last month of this year for a two-year term,” Price said.

Price said that the United States also stays onto be India’s largest and most crucial trading partner, as total bilateral trade increased to $146 billion in 2019. He added that US companies, as expected, are a large source of India’s foreign direct investment.

Price also spotlighted the people-to-people ties which he said are broad and instrumental. “Across this country, nearly four million Indian Americans call the United States home, contributing in their communities and proudly serving their country in uniform,” he said.