Mike Pence describes President Trump and PM Modi as 'larger than life figures'
Speaking at an event organized by the US-based US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, the US Vice-President also supported India in its current standoff with China
NEW DELHI: US Vice President Mike Pence on Monday gave a strong vote of confidence in the US-India relationship stating that the “best was yet to come."
Speaking at an event organized by the US-based US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, Pence also supported India in its current standoff with China.
“We want to see a future of freedom in the Indo Pacific and we want to see a future of freedom across Asia," Pence said in his remarks.
“As we (India and the US) stand more closely together for security in our economies, we believe that that will only strengthen the case for a future of freedom. We want good relations with every country in the world including China and President (Donald) Trump has very good relations with (Chinese) President Xi (Jinping). But we are going to continue to stand firm with our allies in the region like India," Pence said.
"So much of the strong India-US ties is a result of the relationship that President Trump and Prime Minister Modi have forged. They are both larger than life figures. People know where they stand. They have great aspirations," Pence said.
Ties between India and China have nosedived since May after New Delhi detected multiple intrusions into Indian territory by Chinese troops. Relations became more icy after a violent clash between Indian and Chinese troops at Galwan valley on 15 June, which left 20 Indian soldiers and an unknown number of Chinese troops dead.
The US which has its own tensions with China – over trade, human rights and the origins of the covid-19 pandemic – has been backing India in the current face off with China. Indian foreign minister S Jaishankar has had a number of telephone conversations with his US counterpart Mike Pompeo and the defence ministers of the two countries have had conversations as well. A significant chunk of military hardware deployed along the India-China border in Ladakh is of US origin including the Chinook and Apache helicopters.
Once seen as on opposite sides of the Cold War, ties between India and the US have warmed considerably in the past two decades with about half a dozen presidential visits since the year 2000. India is seen a key partner of the US in areas like defence, counter terrorism, health and space cooperation.
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