The US is eager to help India become a world power which contributes to net security, a top American diplomat has said, indicating the President Donald Trump-led administration’s willingness to support New Delhi with ‘best-in-class’ defence capabilities.
US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun made the comments at the third India-US Leadership Summit organised virtually by the US India Strategic and Partnership Forum (USISPF) Yesterday.
Beigun said the partnership between the world’s oldest and largest democracies has gone from strength to strength in the last two decades and that he expects the same to continue.
“We’re very eager to help India become and remain a world-class power in contributing (to) net security rather than worrying about net security and how it affects their interests. And I think defence cooperation is a key avenue for this,” the diplomat said, responding to a question from former US Ambassador to India Richard Verma on whether the US can do more on defense cooperation, export controls and technology transfer.
As the fulcrum of global geopolitics and economics shifts to the Indo-Pacific, our partnership with India has become all the more vital, Biegun said.
Former US president George Bush, under whose administration the US-India Civil Nuclear Agreement was formed, had once once said “the United States and India, separated by half the globe, are closer than ever before, and the partnership between our free nations has the power to transform the world”, Biegun said.
“That still holds true today, and I am confident that the future beckons new milestones for our dynamic and growing partnership,” the diplomat said.
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