There is an organic growth and momentum in the bilateral relations of India and the US, said the Foreign Secretary

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Wednesday hailed India-US partnership, stating the India-U.S. relationship has a positive impact not only on the respective nations, but also in ensuring a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region and a peaceful and prosperous world.

He said close bilateral engagements—at all levels of government and industry and people-to-people linkages—have made it easier to develop a synergy of perspectives on emerging regional and global issues.

“With strong bipartisan support in the US and across the political spectrum in India, and a solid foundation of shared democratic values we have built a substantive and robust economic agenda,” the Foreign Secretary said.

“There is an organic growth and momentum in the bilateral relations, given the deep stakes and investments in India-US relations by a multitude of stakeholders on both sides,” he added

Highlighting just concluded PM Narendra Modi’s visit to the US to hold first in-person bilateral summit with President Joe Biden and first in-person Quad leaders’ summit, he said it was an excellent Indo-US bilateral meeting where the two leaders reviewed Indo-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership and several contemporary regional and global issues.

He termed PM Modi’s meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris as “substantive”, stating it focused on emerging and critical technologies, climate, space, COVID pandemic and the healthcare sector.

In these interactions, there was a keen desire to build on the shared democratic values and increase collaboration between the two countries on regional and global issues.

He said that US Deputy Secretary Wendy Sherman’s visit gave the two sides an excellent opportunity to review the outcomes of PM Modi’s visit to the US – and the road ahead.

On the bilateral front, Defence Policy Group, Economic and Financial Partnership Dialogue, Trade Policy Forum, dialogues on counter-terrorism and designations and the 2+2 Ministerial which will take place soon – and will take forward the vision of Prime Minister Modi and President Biden for the India-US relations.

“Given the fast-paced developments in South Asia, especially in Afghanistan, India and the U.S. will remain closely engaged both on the future of Afghanistan, and on how we can maintain peace and stability in South Asia, and beyond,” he added.

The bilateral summit between PM Modi and US President Biden facilitated the announcement of 100 Masters and Doctoral STEM fellowships in US universities, supported by the private sector. It helped in setting up a Space Cooperation Working Group to enable peaceful uses of outer space. A Quad Infrastructure Coordination Group will also be set up, he said.

The Summit consolidated our joint efforts and established new areas of cooperation that bolster the positive and constructive agenda of the Quad, the Foreign Secretary said.