‘Trump’s trip demonstrates value US places on ties with India,’ says Mike Pompeo

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Updated: Feb 28, 2020 07:40 IST

President Donald Trump’s just-concluded India trip demonstrated the value the United Stated placed on its ties with New Delhi, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday.

Trump’s “first official trip to India this week demonstrates the value the US places on the US-India partnership”, Pompeo said in a tweet, a day after the president returned from his historic two-day visit to India with stops in Ahmedabad, Agra and New Delhi.

“Democratic traditions unite us, shared interests bond us, and under the President’s leadership our partnership has and will only grow stronger,” Pompeo said as he re-tweeted the White House post with remarks by Trump.

“As we deepen our partnership with India, we remember that our two countries have always been united by shared traditions of democracy and constitutions that protect freedom, individual rights, and the rule of law,” Trump said in the White House post that also had four pictures of his meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In a series of tweets, Acting Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Alice G Wells said an excellent progress was made during the presidential visit to India.

“Excellent progress made this week in US India partnership,” she said.

Trump’s trip to India advanced the shared goals and paved the way for further cooperation in key areas such as energy, defence, people-to-people ties and Indo-Pacific coordination, Wells said.

“We made great strides to advance US-India energy partnership, including taking steps to develop India’s strategic petroleum” and providing USD 600 million in US International Development Finance Corporation investment to develop solar and wind energy, she added.

“We look forward to continued engagement with our great American suppliers of energy products, including” Westing House Nuclear and “our Indian partners for big deals that will power US-India relationship into the new decade and beyond. Private sector partnerships make our economies stronger”, Wells said.

As the president announced, the US concluded over USD 3 billions in defence sales to provide America’s finest military helicopters to the Indian armed forces.

“We’re proud to be India’s premier defense partner. Together, we defend our sovereignty and protect a free and open Indo Pacific region for both our peoples,” Wells said.

People-to-people ties between the two countries were stronger than ever, she asserted.

“Our Congressional representatives and Parliamentarians will hold an exchange visit for 1st time ever in April. We’re working together to support human spaceflight and eager to welcome more Indian higher ed students to the US,” Wells said.

In another tweet, she said, “Our hearts go out to the families of the deceased and injured in New Delhi. We echo PM @NarendraModi’s call for calm and normalcy and urge all parties to maintain peace, refrain from violence, and respect the right of peaceful assembly.”