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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, during his India visit on Wednesday, expressed Biden administration's intent to grow stronger bilateral ties with New Delhi and stressed on the importance of cooperation on various issues including COVID-19 and climate change.
"We have seen over the last couple of decades that the relationship has grown stronger and deeper across multiple administrations in both countries. President Biden's determination is to continue to grow stronger the relationship between India and the US," Blinken said in his opening remarks ahead of his meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. "There isn't a challenge that doesn't have an impact on lives of our citizens whether it's COVID, changing climate, the disruptive impact of emerging technologies, that can be addressed by any one of us acting alone. There's a greater imperative on cooperation among countries than ever before," he said. EAM Jaishankar, meanwhile, expressed confidence that Blinken's visit will be productive and the quality of the discussions will fully reflect the strength of bilateral relations. "Our bilateral cooperation has vastly expanded in the last few years. Our interests are shared, our concerns are similar and our convergences are strong. Talks today will provide an updated direction to our colleagues to translate these into practical outcomes," EAM Jaishankar added. The minister added that responding to the COVID-19 pandemic has added new facets to India-US cooperation, in an increasingly multipolar world. He added, "Peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific are as important for both of us as democratic stability in Afghanistan. Deepening the Quad as a qualitative platform is in our mutual interest and we must work together even more closely on key contemporary challenges like terrorism, climate change, pandemics and resilient supply chains." Blinken, who landed in India on Tuesday is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi later today. During his visit, Blinken is expected to discuss wide-ranging issues including vaccine cooperation, Afghanistan and the Indo-Pacific region. Earlier today, Blinken participated in a meeting of representatives of civil society organisations in the national capital. (ANI)
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