Modi Visit Historic, Economic Links At Core Of India-US Partnership: Blinken

At the heart of the India-United States (US) strategic relationship are the economic linkages, Secretary of State Antony J Blinken has said, adding that both countries together are determining the norms, rules and standards that will govern the innovations for the future.

- Prashant Jha

Blinken also said that Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi's state visit to Washington DC on June 22 will be "historic" and solidify what President Joe Biden has called the "defining relationship" of the 21st century. As someone who had worked for Biden for two decades, dating back to Biden's time as chair of Senate foreign relations committee, Blinken said he knew that Biden had not arrived at this conclusion "yesterday". "From that time, I know the premium he has attached to the relationship between our countries and the vision that he has had for the centrality, the importance, of that relationship."

Blinken was speaking at the inaugural reception of the India Ideas Summit, hosted by the US-India Business Council (USIBC), on Monday evening eastern time. Held at Renwick Gallery, right opposite the White House in downtown DC, the event saw highlevel participation from the US government. Guests included the US special envoy for energy affairs Amos Hochstein, deputy national security adviser Anne Neuberger, State department officials dealing with South Asia, Donald Lu and Nancy Jackson, Pentagon's Lindsay Ford, the energy department's Geoffrey Pyatt, among others. The Indian ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, and USIBC president, Atul Keshap, spoke at the event, where representatives of top US and Indian companies with business interests in each other's countries were present.