US, India have strong and valuable partnership: Congressman

The US and India share a strong and valuable partnership which has allowed the two nations to flourish, an American lawmaker has said as he welcomed the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the country for the first bilateral meeting with President Joe Biden and in-person Quad summit.

Prime Minister Modi along with his counterparts - Scott Morrison of Australia and Japan’s Yoshihide Suga - on Friday attended the first in-person meeting of Quad leaders hosted by US President Biden.

At the invitation of President Biden, Prime Minister Modi and his counterparts from Australia and Japan gathered in the American capital for the first-ever in-person Quad summit at the White House.

Opening the summit, President Biden said the four democracies have come together to take on common challenges from COVID-19 to climate.

“Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize one of our global partners, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, who is in Washington, DC this week for the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, also known as the Quad Summit, a strategic conversation between the United States, India, Japan, and Australia,” Congressman Drew Ferguson said on the floor of the US House of Representatives on Friday.

“America and India have a strong and valuable partnership, which has allowed both nations to flourish. Welcoming the wide range of collaborative activities undertaken to improve their citizens’ lives, we must work to revitalise our existing alliance and find new areas for collaboration andmutual benefit,” he said.

Prime Minister Modi on Friday described as ''outstanding'' his first bilateral meeting with US President Biden who said the Indo-US relationship is destined to be ''stronger, closer and tighter” as they discussed a wide range of issues, including combating COVID-19, climate change, trade and the Indo-Pacific.

President Biden, who welcomed Prime Minister Modi in the Oval Office of the White House said they are starting a new chapter in the US-India relationship.

Ferguson said he met Consulate General of India in Georgia Swati V Kulkarni earlier this month, where he reaffirmed his commitment to deepening their ties and advancing practical cooperation between the two countries in combatting COVID-19, partnering on emerging technologies and cyberspace, and promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific.

“Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in celebrating the longstanding and special relationship between the United States and India,” Ferguson said.

In November 2017, India, Japan, the US and Australia gave shape to the long-pending proposal of setting up the Quad to develop a new strategy to keep the critical sea routes in the Indo-Pacific free of any influence, amidst China's growing military presence in the strategic region.

India,the US and several other world powers have been talking about the need to ensure a free, open and thriving Indo-Pacific in the backdrop of China's rising military manoeuvring in the region.

China claims nearly all of the disputed South China Sea, though Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam all claim parts of it. Beijing has built artificial islands and military installations in the South China Sea.