India and the United States of America share a strong bond not only in bilateral ties, but also in nurturing a common vision for an open, free and prosperous Indo-Pacific Region, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Wednesday.
“India considers its relationship with US to be of paramount importance, not only for our respective nations but also in ensuring a free, open and prosperous Indo-Pacific region, and a peaceful and prosperous world,” Shringla said at the USIBC India Ideas Summit.
Addressing a joint press conference with US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy R Sherman, Shringla said that both countries are today in a “strong position” to move forward “exponentially” on a lot of fronts.
“There is every reason to believe that India-US relationship will only attain greater heights in years to come. Today, we are in a strong position and poised to move forward exponentially on many of the areas that we have identified together. Fast-paced growth in South Asia, especially in Afghanistan, will keep us engaged. We have a keen desire to ensure that we both work together to ensure peace, security, and stability in South Asia and beyond,” India’s Foreign Secretary said.
Sherman, meanwhile, highlighted India’s ‘Vaccine Maitri’ programme in the face of the devastating Covid-19 pandemic, appreciating the global assistance New Delhi has provided in these trying times.
“We applaud India’s decision to resume vaccine exports. It was really a country that the world depended on. India had come to everybody’s rescue early on and hopefully, we all came to India’s rescue to help them. We will compete with China where we should, cooperate with China where it’s in our interests. We will challenge China where we must – where it undermines interests of ours, and our partners and allies, or threatens rules-based international order. I think we (US) and India are like-minded in that regard,” Sherman said at the Summit.
Sherman also held talks with NSA Ajit Doval, and added that both India and the US have a “one mind and one approach” as far as Afghanistan is concerned.
