NEW DELHI, Nov 4: The prime minister Narendra Modi and the United States president Donald Trump have “special relations” but India is not worried about the outcome of the current presidential elections. Whether Trump was re-elected or his rival Joe Biden emerged victorious, India’s warm relationship with the US will not change.
In an interview to a news channel, the Indian foreign secretary Harsh Shringla said the outcome of the current US presidential election was unlikely to impact India’s relationship with the US as it was “based on bipartisan support.”
Presidential candidate Joe Biden has made it “very clear that he values a strong India-US strategic partnership”, and this is common to both Biden and US President Donald Trump, Shringla said.
“Our relations with the US are really based on bipartisan support, you see it in Congress, you see it at the public levels. We do believe that we have forged a relationship that today has withstood the test of time, is very comprehensive and multi-faceted,” he said.
“We not only share the same values and principles but we also have the same strategic vision in what could be bilateral, regional or multilateral relations,” he added.
He agreed that Modi’s ties with Trump “have been special” but pointed out that his relationship with Trump’s predecessor Barrack Obama was “also very special”.
Asked about the border standoff with China in the Ladakh sector of the Line of Actual Control (LAC), Shringla replied, “Clearly there we believe that the situation has involved some level of deterioration…it has contributed to deterioration in terms of the ties between our two countries because of the unusual step of China to seek to unilaterally alter the status quo.”
Shringla responded to questions on whether China had occupied territory on the Indian side of the LAC by saying, “You have to keep in mind that there is no common perception of the border, but yet if you seek to change where the current line where troops are, then of course it does impact on the larger relationship.
“We are concerned that China has taken this step. We are very, very clear that we will stand firm and resolute in our resolve not to allow our territorial integrity or sovereignty to be compromised.”
Shringla was scathing in his response to a question about Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan describing the government of India as “fascist”, and said, “That is ripe coming from the prime minister of a country that does not recognise the state of Israel, that till now does not acknowledge that the Holocaust took place, that has provided a safe sanctuary for Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar of the Taliban years after 9/11, a country that today has a debt higher than its GDP, a country that has enormous socio-economic problems and political problems now with an entire coalition of all the opposition parties seeking to unseat Prime Minister Imran Khan and those who back him from the deep state.”
He said the remarks were “an attempt to distract international attention and domestic attention” from Khan’s problems. “Considering his situation and Pakistan’s own approach towards radicalism, terrorism and issues that are important to the international community, he really shouldn’t be making such irresponsible statements,” he added.
(Manas Dasgupta)