Modi ‘most pro-American’ PM in Indian history: US Ambassador to India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the “most pro-American Prime Minister” in Indian history while President Joe Biden is the “most pro-Indian President” in the history of the United States, according to Ambassador of the US to India Eric Garcetti. In an interview, the diplomat also pointed out that the United States has always backed India at times of border conflict, especially supporting India’s diplomatic interactions with China.

“These are two men (PM Modi and President Joe Biden), who have such a close friendship — the most pro-American Prime Minister we have ever seen in Indian history, the most pro-Indian President we have had in US history. And that’s building on people who have been very strong before. I think they are representative of the people in their country, the closeness that we have,” Garcetti told ANI in an interview.

PM Modi was in the United States from September 21-23 mainly to participate in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (or Quad), a platform of interaction for the US, India, Japan and Australia. The sixth edition of the Quad was hosted by US President Biden at his home town of Wilmington, Delaware. It was attended by heads of the Quad states — Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Garcetti felt the Quad was “a powerful place” to “come up with common solutions in the Indo-Pacific”.

“The Quad is a powerful place to set a vision, to share principles and to come up with common solutions in the Indo-Pacific. It is a contrast to nations that don’t want to play by the rules, don’t believe in the rule of law, but I think we will build solutions. It’s about what we can do proactively and this was a giant step forward,” he told the news agency, adding that the Quad nations shared a common vision of a free and prosperous Indo-Pacific.

He noted that the Quad was “not about any one nation”, adding that it was about cooperating together on issues as diverse as healthcare, security and reaching out with assistance during humanitarian, besides “looking at economic development of things like supply chains to make sure no one country can throttle those supply chains in critical minerals”.

Garcetti said nobody should feel threatened by the Quad, adding that the platform does not have a military agenda.

“Whether it’s the new announcement on Coast Guard integration and having our crews work together or whether it’s the hub to allow some of our military planes and things like that to be able to interoperate, be fixed in each other’s countries that show interoperability to protect our people, but it is not first and foremost, some sort of military alliance looking to project power. It is looking to preserve peace and to make sure that we have prosperity for the entire plan," the US Ambassador to India said.

“We put a billion dollars together between just the US and India to find climate solutions when we have almost 900 million people who are climate-vulnerable in our two countries. So, of course, other countries will look in but nobody should feel threatened by the Quad. But the Quad is about standing up for principles that not every country shares,” Garcetti said, adding: “The Quad doesn’t just work in four countries. We are looking at the entire region and how we can give something to everyone.”

ALL WANT PEACEFUL RELATIONS WITH CHINA

On the subject of India’s relationship with its neighbour China, Garcetti told the agency: “I would say that we see India as a friend and a partner, not a counterbalance. We share the principles about borders and sovereignty, about the rule of law. We’ve stood with India on the border when there’s been conflicts. We’ve recognised since 1952 the McMahon Line. We have a long history of ensuring that aggression should not be rewarded anywhere in the world.”

Asked where Washington DC sees India in the larger picture when it comes to the Indo-China region, he said the US supported “India’s diplomatic interactions right now”, adding the US would “follow India’s lead in India’s land”.

“When it comes to China specifically, we all want to have peaceful relations with China,” he noted.