India-US have ‘foundational partnerships’ going forward over next decades: Secretary Blinken

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Washington: The U.S. -India partnership could be the most important going forward, , said  Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday, April 27, 2022.

Blinken made these remarks testifying during the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs hearing.

Talking about India-US ties, Blinken said, “This partnership (India-US relations) has the potential to be one of the most important and foundational partnerships that we have going forward over the next decades.”

A number of countries are now taking a second look at some of their relationships and some of their interests particularly when it comes to their relationship with Russia, Blinken said, noting that of course, in the case of India, there’s a relationship that goes back decades.

India’s relationship with Russue, Blinken continued, was one born out of necessity, a partner of choice when the U.S. was not in a position to be that partner.

“Now we’re investing in that effort. There is a growing strategic convergence between US-India and of course, China is a big part of that,” he added.

In an earlier interview with ANI, Derek Chollet, a top advisor of Secretary Blinken said “Washington fully understands New Delhi’s long-standing ties to Moscow,” and that Washington is there to support India and the bilateral partnership  has tremendous potential.

“We understand that India has had a long-standing defense relationship with Russia over many years and part of that was because the United States was not available to be a partner. It is decades ago and we face a much different reality today,” Chollet said.

“Over the last 10 years, the US-India Defense Partnership has changed dramatically. We see great potential and opportunity in their relationships. Anything that two plus two conversations between Secretary (Antony) Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin had with their counterparts helped further clarify that.”

Chollet described the relations as one of “natural allies” adding that “It’s already paying dividends for both countries in the region and all around the world. And we think, really, there’s nowhere to go but up.”