WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State John Kerry voiced hope yesterday of finding common cause with India’s new Prime Minister Narendra Modi, hailing the nations’ ties as “indispensable” despite recent friction.
Kerry, who heads today to New Delhi in the highest-level US contact yet with the right-leaning government that took office in May, said he envisioned cooperation with Modi on issues ranging from promoting economic growth to fighting climate change.
A day after returning from a grueling trip in which he failed to end the bloody Gaza conflict, Kerry said that a close relationship with India was among the US “long-term strategic imperatives” despite the “flashpoints that dominate the daily headlines.”
“The United States and India can and should be indispensable partners for the 21st century, and that is, I assure you, the way we approach the Modi government,” said Kerry, whose tenure has been dominated by seeking Middle East peace. “India’s new government has won an historic mandate to deliver change and reform and, together, we have a singular opportunity to help India to be able to meet that challenge,” Kerry said at the Center for American Progress, a think tank. Modi led his Bharatiya Janata Party to the most sweeping victory in an Indian election in 30 years on promises to turbocharge an economy seen as sputtering below potential.
Kerry, who will be joined on his three-day visit by Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, said he would talk to India about linking with Southeast Asia’s dynamic economies by strengthening ties with Bangladesh and a democratizing Myanmar.
“India can be at the heart of a more connected, prosperous region,” Kerry said, adding: “The possibilities here are gigantic.”
Despite Kerry’s upbeat tone, the once-blossoming relationship between the world’s two largest democracies has seen hiccups in recent months.
AFP
