Esper also highlighted the 'increased' military cooperation with India and called it as 'one of the most important defence relationships of the 21th century'.
It also comes ahead of a possible visit by President Donald Trump to India later this month. Trump is set to visit India on a two-day trip between February 23 and 26 and both sides are in the process of fine-tuning his schedule, according to sources in New Delhi.
Having almost closed the last contours of the limited trade deal and with the announcement of a much larger trade deal in the offing, we have moved to a new level of engagement: Goyal.
'There shall be no change in India-Japan ties,' predicts Rajaram Panda.
Indian-Americans in Houston are very enthusiastic about Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump jointly addressing the mega 'Howdy, Modi' rally, an event they believe would take the bilateral ties to a new level.
Nadella's visit comes at a time when the Indian government is taking a strong position on issues like data localisation and tightening the rules for e-commerce companies as well as social media platforms.
General Mattis has been the most steadfast champion in Trump's cabinet of the US-India defence relationship. If Trump chooses a more pliable successor, the Pentagon's attention could go off India.
Vajpayee had always felt that India must act with conviction and panache. He decided that, irrespective of the attendant risks, he would undertake what many felt was a precarious course. A fascinating excerpt from N K Singh's Portraits Of Power: Half A Century Of Being At Ringside on Atalji's 96th birthday, December 25.
Donald Trump, accompanied by US First Lady Melania Trump, was received by Kovind at the forecourt of majestic Rashtrapati Bhavan along with his wife Savita.
Aseem Chhabra watched some great films and some huge disappointments in 2020.
'There were any number of Congress leaders who disliked Sonia Gandhi, but they were very close to Ahmed Bhai and he would listen, and give a shoulder to cry upon.'
Had India agreed to join the trade pact, Indian markets would have been flooded with cheap Chinese products.
The US seems to be engaging in a game of brinkmanship where President Trump's visit has been used as 'leverage' to pressure India into agreeing to a trade deal, notes Kashish Parpiani.
It was a many splendoured political career, which ended at the presidential palace. But the prime minister's post eluded him, even though it was a position he openly aspired for.
Rajnath Singh outlined the major measures and initiatives taken by the Modi government to provide basic needs to people of India, including providing homes, building toilets to end open defecation, electricity, cooking gas and focusing on infrastructure development.
Describing it as a "spectacle in Houston", the Wall Street Journal said Trump is hoping to pick up a larger share of this growing voters bloc in 2020 than he did in 2016. Trump understands the benefit of associating with Indian Americans, whose contributions are crucial to the prosperity of both nations in the 21st century, it added.
'The US and India continue to use their deepening relationship to build new partnerships within and beyond the Indo-Pacific.'
'What has India got out of Howdy India in substantive terms?' asks Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Some US prominent lawmakers have urged the American government to follow suit as it is believed that the short video-sharing app is a major security risk to the country.
India will take on four-time winners Australia, who defeated South Africa by five runs in what was also a rain-hit semi-final, curtailed to 13 overs after Australia's innings.
The 77-year-old former US vice president on Friday night took his tally of pledged delegates over the halfway mark of 1,991 from a total of 3,979, thus becoming eligible to earn the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.
Warren urged India to respect the rights of the people of Kashmir.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her American counterpart Mike Pompeo have agreed to reschedule the postponed '2+2 dialogue'.
A large number of American companies like Google, Uber and IBM are offering their resources to help India successfully fight the battle against the deadly coronavirus pandemic.
The suspension of US aid to Pakistan, which was announced by President Donald Trump in January 2018, remained in effect throughout 2019, the State Department said.
The government has an opportunity right now to save Indians from deep recession, and in many cases, starvation, notes Kalyan Singhal.
'... I think it will be one of those things you don't realise how much you need until it's gone. Take it away, and we will realise how much the supporters mean to us.'
Labour law changes for three years may not be enough as it takes a couple of years for factories to build and operations at a proper scale start only in the third or fourth year.
In his opening address, Prime Minister Modi said the South Asian region has reported less than 150 coronavirus cases, but "we need to remain vigilant". "Prepare, but don't panic" has been India's guiding mantra in dealing with coronavirus outbreak, he said.
'If we cannot conclude a trade deal, both sides are likely to take trade actions that will further impair our government-to-government ties.'
Indians at large harbour a notion that their country is cherrypicking out of the American basket of goodies, but the policymakers in Delhi and the political leadership are well aware that it can only be a pipe dream since a military alliance with a superpower is a profound irrevocable commitment, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The president and First Lady Melania Trump will travel to New Delhi and Ahmedabad during the visit.
America had postponed the much-awaited dialogue due to "unavoidable reasons" last month.
'We want to make sure that we are certainly targeting the entire Indian American community.'
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her American counterpart James Mattis reviewed ongoing initiatives to further strengthen bilateral defence cooperation.
'How and if India retaliates will go a long way toward determining the trajectory of this crisis.'
'Kindly have us airlifted at the earliest. We are in a very bad situation here.'
"As Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi said in his latest campaign, 'Modi hai to mumkin hai,' or 'Modi makes it possible', I'm looking forward to exploring what's possible between our people," Pompeo said in his major India policy speech at the India Ideas Summit of US-India Business Council on Wednesday.
US President Trump and the First Lady held hands as they strolled at the Taj complex and later wrote in the visitors' book. They were also briefed about the history and importance of the monument.
'Washington's silence about India's Article 370 move tells us all we need to know: It doesn't want to rock the boat of a relationship that has navigated some choppy waters but remains a highly important one.'