India on Saturday announced plans to amend its nuclear liability law and set up a nuclear energy mission, a move that came ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's likely visit to the United States.
In a significant move, the United States on Wednesday removed restrictions on three Indian nuclear entities, over a week after National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan announced that Washington was finalising steps to 'remove' hurdles for civil nuclear partnership between Indian and American firms.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden will have a substantive engagement on the sidelines of the Quad summit on Saturday, and the two sides will sign at least two agreements following the talks.
The strategic partnership between India and the United States has "retreated" under the current Obama Administration as compared to the momentum built during the Bush-era, Republican White House hopeful Mitt Romney's campaign has said.
US President Trump "presented the Legion of Merit to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his leadership in elevating the US-India strategic partnership," O'Brien said in a tweet.
Karl F Inderfurth, former assistant secretary of state for South Asian affairs in former United States President Bill Clinton's administration and a foreign policy adviser in the Barack Obama presidential campaign, says Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit to India was 'continuity plus', vis--vis the growing strategic partnership between Washington and New Delhi.Inderfurth said, "This visit was filled with areas to promote even closer cooperation."
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the upcoming visit will affirm the deep and close partnership between the United States and India.
Reaffirming that United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit to India will expand the areas of cooperation, a top Barack Obama administration official said Washington intends to deepen and strengthen the strategic partnership with New Delhi. "India is a global power. I think, as the Secretary reflected earlier this week and will certainly do so when she is in India, there is an opportunity to expand the areas of cooperation," he said.
Christina Rocca discussed various aspects of the NSSP with her Indian interlocutor S Jaishankar, joint secretary in the external\n\naffairs ministry.\n\n
'Trump will absolutely back New Delhi on its position that Pakistan must do more to crack down on terrorists that threaten India.'
"Continuing to build on the bedrock of strong Indo-US relations. PM spoke just now to @realDonaldTrump to congratulate him on his election," Vikas Swarup, Ministry of External Affairs spokesman, said on twitter.
Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla has met top Biden administration officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Deputy Secretary Wendy Sherman, and held substantive discussions with them on the strategic bilateral ties and regional and global issues like the current situation in Afghanistan after the Taliban seized Kabul.
He also said that it is more than a relationship between the two countries.
'If the Trump administration decides to put guardrails on H-1B visas, that will surely impact both US and Indian firms.'
Both Indians and Americans have to consider themselves fortunate and thankful to have a diplomat of the caliber of Indian Ambassador Nirupama Rao posted in Washington and driving the burgeoning United States-India strategic partnership, a senior State Department official has said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged CEOs of US majors to take advantage of India's growth story as the country is making all efforts to become the third largest economy of the world in his third term. India is currently the fifth largest economy of the world after the US, China, Germany and Japan with a GDP of around $3.9 trillion. India has been the fastest growing large economies of the world with GDP growth rate of over 7 per cent for the last three consecutive years.
"We share important interests with India. We share important values with India. And we know India has a relationship with Russia that is distinct from the relationship that we have with Russia. Of course, that is okay," Price told reporters at his daily news conference on Friday.
'By his words, actions, and body language during their joint press appearance wanted to convey his personal respect and, more broadly, his desire to work closely with India.'
Biden and Modi committed that the US and India will work closely together to win the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, renew their partnership on climate change, rebuild the global economy in a way that benefits the people of both countries, and stand together against the scourge of global terrorism, the White House said in a readout of the call.
United States Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will visit New Delhi next week during which he will hold talks with his counterpart Arun Jaitley and other top officials, aimed at "nurturing" ties with India after the formation of the new government, a top Pentagon official has said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi concluded his visit to the United States after holding high-level bilateral talks with President Donald Trump on a wide range of subjects, including trade and technology, defence and security, energy and people-to-people ties. The two leaders decided to take a significant step in deepening their strategic ties, particularly in the areas of defence, energy, and critical technology. Modi also met with key American officials, including National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and prominent business leaders like SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Indian-American entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
'2020 will show whether India's troubled domestic economic and political house reveals a mismatch in their strategic association or whether closer strategic ties are yet possible,' says Anita Inder Singh.
Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon will open the 5th US-India High Technology Cooperation Group hosted by the US-India Business Council at the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington DC on February 22.
The president and First Lady Melania Trump will travel to New Delhi and Ahmedabad during the visit.
Garcetti suggested that the two countries are working on certain agreements to bolster defence cooperation and they are likely to be firmed up when Modi visits the US or President Joe Biden comes to India in September for the G20 summit.
The relationship between the US and India has been very productive, in particular on the trade and technology front, and 2023 can be considered the best year historically for bilateral ties, according to a former top American trade official. Arun Kumar, an Indian-American, who served as the assistant secretary of Commerce for Global Markets and director general of the US and Foreign Commercial Service (USFCS) during the Obama administration, said this during an interview with PTI in Washington. "Looking back on 2023, it was a very productive year for the US-India relationship, by many accounts the best year historically," he said.
This will be the first high-level engagement between India and the United States after National Democratic Alliance's return to power for a second term.
Indian policymakers must realise that in buying small quantities of equipment, it becomes hard to start manufacturing them in India, explains Ajai Shukla.
Mulford was at the centre of a controversy after his remarks in an interview to PTI that the Indo-US nuclear deal, signed on July 18 last year, could 'die' in the US Congress if New Delhi did not oppose Iran's nuclear programme.
The two leaders agreed to work closely to further advance the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership, built on shared values and common interests, it added.
Calling India an indispensable partner for the 21st century, United States Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday the dynamism and entrepreneurial spirit of this bilateral relationship is needed to solve some of world's greatest challenges.
We do not know, because there has been no discussion, no transparency and most likely no real thinking on this matter at our end, observes Aakar Patel.
'Sullivan and Jaishankar welcomed the cooperation in recent weeks that resulted in deliveries of over USD 500 million in COVID-19 relief supplies from the US federal and state governments, US companies and private citizens across America for the people of India'
The $10.5 billion arms and equipment deal helped to arrest the recent drift in the 'special and privileged' strategic partnership, observes Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
A leading expert predicts that the incoming Trump administration will likely continue its pro-India policies, including the Indo-Pacific strategy and Quad, but highlights potential challenges such as trade disagreements, immigration issues, and a possible quid pro quo for technology sharing. The expert also notes that the Trump 2.0 administration may prioritize great power politics over strategic altruism, potentially impacting human rights and religious freedom concerns.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has accepted US President Barack Obama's invitation for a meeting in late September and the dates are being finalised.
US envoy Eric Garcetti on Thursday said he respects that India likes its "strategic autonomy", but in times of conflict, there is no such thing as strategic autonomy, even as he pitched for forging a stronger partnership between New Delhi and Washington.
The maiden bilateral meeting between President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday will further strengthen the US-India strategic ties and allow the leaders to discuss the situation in Afghanistan and how the two countries can work together to fight terrorism, a senior White House official has said.
Running for the US House of Representatives from the 10th Congressional District of Virginia, a Democratic stronghold, Subramanyam defeated Mike Clancy of the Republican Party. He is currently a Virginia State Senator.
