Express News Service
NEW DELHI: A day after US President Joe Biden said that India was ‘shaky’ in acting against Russia, US officials said that India was an essential partner.
“In terms of India’s place in the Quad, in terms of our relationship with India in the Quad context and the bilateral context, we know that India is an essential partner for us in realising our shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific. That is really at the heart of the Quad’s goals,” said Ned Price, spokesperson of the US State Department, during a briefing.
Price said that just before the March 3rd virtual meeting of the Quad leaders, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had met with External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar and reaffirmed their commitment to free and open Indo-Pacific in which the sovereignity and territorial integrity of all states are respected and countries are free from military, economic and political coercion.
“In fact, we heard that emanate from the leaders call on March 3rd. These are principles that we share with our Quad partners. They also reaffirmed their dedication to the Quad as a mechanism to promote regional stability and security,’’ Price added.
Meanwhile, US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland, during her recent trip to Delhi, had said that though India has a historic defence and security relationship with Russia, the US can be a strong defence and security partner of India.
“Times have changed in terms of our willingness and ability to be a strong defence and security partner of India,” said Nuland.
“The fact is that we are a partner of India now. We are a partner of India when it comes to shared interests, when it comes to the values we share in a free and open Indo-Pacific. And we’ve invested in that relationship in terms of our defence and security. So historical relationships notwithstanding, we are a partner of choice for India now, as are many of our partners and allies around the world,” Price added.
