iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
During the 5th edition of the India-US Forum which was conducted on Thursday, November 2, India’s Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu said that India and the US have achieved some “historic milestones” in their ties, despite the challenges posed by COVID.
Both the countries came together in times of desperate need for each other. In addition to the government’s support, several agencies, companies, and even individuals from both sides came for help.
Sandhu noted how President Joe Biden spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, underlining that the US stands shoulder to shoulder with India.
“The overwhelming support received by us, from all across the US is a testament to close bonds that we share. Just before the second wave hit India, India had supplied vaccines to more than 90 countries across the globe, and it was touching to see our friends, and partners such as the United States, reciprocate the warmth to India in equal measure, in the hour of need, Sandhu said.
The pandemic did not stop the two countries from going ahead with intense engagement, the envoy underlined.
“Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, there have been some historic milestones. We saw Prime Minister Modi’s landmark visit to the US in September for the in-person leader-level Summit with President Biden, and the first in-person Quad Summit,” Sandhu said.
Sandhu noted that Prime Minister Modi participated in several other summits hosted by President Biden — the virtual Leaders’ Summit on Climate in April; virtual Covid Summit in September; Global Supply Chain Summit on the sidelines of G-20 in Rome in October; Summit on Build Back Better for the World on the sidelines of COP26 in Glasgow in November.
“There have been several ministerial-level engagements: the Secretary of State and the External Affairs Minister have met on a regular basis. The Secretary of Defence visited India in March as part of his first overseas tour. The Finance Minister visited the US in October. The USTR (United States Trade Representative) was recently in Delhi for the Trade Policy Forum, and the visit was an opportunity for a broader conversation on the economic partnership between the two countries, he added.
“Congressional delegations have visited India recently. The Foreign Secretary was here in September. There have been several senior official level meetings, advancing the bilateral agenda in various fields, including in defence, health, counter-narcotics, counter-terrorism, economic and financial partnership, financial regulation, strategic areas, etc,” Sandhu said.
