Describing India as a great power which will never be a formal ally or partner of the US, the Biden administration has told lawmakers that New Delhi wants to play a responsible role globally.
These remarks were made by Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell during a hearing on US-China Competitiveness Beyond the Indo-Pacific on Tuesday, amidst indications that Prime Minister Narendra Modi may visit Kyiv later this month against the backdrop of renewed global efforts to end Russia's war on Ukraine.
“One of the hardest things to keep in mind is that India is also a great power. It has its own beliefs and its own interests. They will never be a formal ally or partner of the United States. But it doesn't mean that we cannot have the strongest of possible relationships as allied nations on the global stage,” Kurt told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during the hearing.
He was responding to a question from Senator James Risch about the recent Moscow visit of Prime Minister Modi for a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“You said it effectively about Russia, I'm not going to add to that directly. I think we're likely to hear news of India engaging more directly in Ukraine. I'm grateful for that. I think India wants to play a responsible role globally,” he said.
“There are very few other countries in the world that have such an appeal to the Global South. And their ability to engage there is unmatched and we are seeking to work with them there in Africa and elsewhere,” Campbell told the lawmakers.
“I actually believe it's probably the most important relationship for the United States to get right. Huge capacity, a wonderful diaspora in the United States that connects our two great countries. I believe that the vast majority of people in India want a better relationship with the United States,” he said.
“They're grateful for our bipartisan attention. They like the work that we've done together in education and technology. We've supported them in intelligence and military along the Line of Actual Control. And in the Indian Ocean, we've stepped up in a variety of areas. That's important. And I do believe that we've bent India's trajectory in ways that are consequential and very much in our interests,” Campbell said.
Modi was in Russia for two days from July 8-9 for the 22nd India-Russia annual summit that has been watched closely by the West amidst the raging Ukraine conflict.
This was Prime Minister Modi’s first visit to Russia since the war started between Moscow and Kyiv in February 2022.
During his talks with Putin on July 9, Prime Minister Modi told him that a solution to the Ukraine conflict is not possible on the battlefield and peace efforts do not succeed amid bombs and bullets.
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