Mayank Chhaya-
As India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarks on a state visit to Washington, which will also entail an address to a joint meeting of Congress on June 22, US-India relations remain on an upward trajectory that began in 2000. Close to a quarter century later, short of India becoming a formal ally of the United States, it has established itself as one of America’s most consequential global partners, particularly in the Indo-Pacific where its increasingly assertive neighbor China is flexing its muscles.
To understand what the Modi visit means for US-India relations, Mayank Chhaya Reports spoke to Arun Kumar Singh, a former Indian ambassador to Washington as well as a seasoned diplomat with many crucial assignments in a career spanning decades.
This from his bio at the Cohen Group’s website: “In addition to his ambassadorial postings, Ambassador Singh’s previous assignments include: Embassy of India, Moscow from 1981 to 1982; the Indian Mission in Addis Ababa as Second Secretary from 1982 to 1985; Tokyo as First Secretary from 1985 to 1988; Deputy Secretary/Director dealing with East Asia and Pakistan Divisions from 1988 to 1991; Offices of the Foreign Secretary and the External Affairs Minister of India from 1991 to 1993; Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations Office, New York from 1993 to 1997; Counsellor/Minister at the Indian Mission at Moscow from 1997 to 2000; and as Joint Secretary dealing first with the United Nations Policy, and then Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran Divisions at the Ministry of External Affairs from 2000 to 2005.” Arun Kumar Singh spoke to MCR from New Delhi.
