- Monday, February 24, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday (28) welcomed the Joe Biden administration’s commitment to strengthen partnership between India and the US while speaking with US secretary of state Antony Blinken during his two-day visit to New Delhi that concluded the same day.
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Modi tweeted about his meeting with Blinken, who also met top Indian diplomats like national security advisor Ajit Doval and external affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and various civil society leaders and also a representative of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, irking China. He said, “Good to meet US Secretary of State @SecBlinken today. I welcome President Biden’s strong commitment to strengthen the India-US Strategic Partnership, which is anchored in our shared democratic values and is a force for global good.”
Good to meet US Secretary of State @SecBlinken today. I welcome President Biden’s strong commitment to strengthen the India-US Strategic Partnership, which is anchored in our shared democratic values and is a force for global good. pic.twitter.com/HlNqKVTM95
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 28, 2021
Modi said the societies of the two democracies share a deep commitment to the values of democracy, freedom and liberty and the Indian diaspora in the US has made an immense contribution to the enhancement of bilateral ties, a statement from the prime minister’s office said. During his talks with Blinken, Modi also conveyed warm greetings to US president Biden and vice president Kamala Harris and appreciated various initiatives that Biden has taken over Covid-19, climate change and Quad, a four-party platform that includes Australia and Japan besides India and the US.
US state secretary Antony Blinken meets top Indian diplomats Ajit Doval, Jaishankar
Blinken also conveyed greetings of the American leadership to Modi.
The prime minister’s office’s statement also said that Blinken briefed Modi on his talks with Doval and Jaishankar and expressed a strong commitment to deepen India-US strategic relations in a number of sectors, including defence, trade and investment, climate change, etc.
On Wednesday, Blinken also said that the US will provide India $25 million to boost the anti-Covid vaccination drive, as part of the Biden administration’s effort to better ties with India, a diplomatic partner which has currently found itself in a challenging position in a region wedged between China and Afghanistan, two of Washington’s major concerns.
Blinken issues veiled warning about Indian democracy backsliding
According to a report by the Washington Post, Blinken called the US-India relationship as one of the “most consequential” in the world and said both two countries are looking for a peaceful solution to the situation in Afghanistan and boost the Quad which is seen as a US-led effort to counter China’s influence in Asia.
Blinken and Jaishankar though did not name China but their reiterating commitment to expand the Quad partnership to include broader, non-military issues like infrastructure development, Covid vaccine distribution and climate change made it evident that China is a major reason why they look to strengthen their friendship further.
On Afghanistan, India has been lukewarm about America’s withdrawal from there. The Modi government is concerned that a full military takeover of the country by the resurgent Taliban would bolster Pakistan and jeopardise its own security interests in the region.
Jaishankar said it was inevitable that the US’s pulling out of Afghanistan after 20 years would lead to consequences but said the outcome should not be determined by force on the ground.
While Indian officials feel sustained airstrikes by the US in Afghanistan over the next few months could prevent the Taliban overrunning the entire country but there are also officials who said recently that they spoke with Taliban representatives, marking a departure from India’s traditional take on the group and acknowledgement that it could play a major role in the governance of Afghanistan, the Post added.
