2023 US-India ties to be even bigger than 2022: White House

In the history of the India-US relationship, 2022 has been a huge year and the next year is going to be even bigger, a top White House official said on Sunday.

Principal Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer also applauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for being instrumental in forging a consensus during the recently concluded G20 Summit.

"Looking around the world when the United States and [its] President [Joe] Biden look for partners that can truly help carry the load; truly help move forward a global agenda, India and Prime Minister Modi are very high on that list," Finer told a gathering of several hundred Indian-Americans.

"We just saw this in real time at the G20 where the Prime Minister was instrumental in forging a consensus around a joint statement among a far-flung group of countries and in the comments and work that the prime minister has done and others in the Indian government have done to highlight the increasing risk related to nuclear issues," he said at an event here.

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This relationship is being steered by Prime Minister Modi and President Biden who have met more than 15 times, the latest one being in Bali last week, said India's Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, addressing the gathering at a lunch reception hosted by him to celebrate the Festival Season.

The unique event organised by the Embassy of India showcased the syncretic nature of Indian culture. The event saw festivals of different faith — from Diwali to Hanukkah, Eid to Bodhi day, and from Gurpurab to Christmas — celebrated with aplomb.

Attended by top officials of the Biden administration, including Senior Advisor to President Neera Tanden and Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, the event amply demonstrated India's unique stature as the embodiment of 'Unity in Diversity' — a land where various faiths have not only co-existed, but also flourished.

"This event really demonstrates so much about what President Biden is talking about when he talks about an inclusive country, a country that celebrates our diversity and our strength in diversity," Tanden said.

"I'm grateful for this partnership that we have between the United States and India. I think it has been important in the past, but it will be even more important going forward," Dr Murthy said.

Reflecting his views on the India-US relationship, Finer reiterated the administration's commitment to it and said that 2022 and 2023 were two critical years for this.

"The year 2022 was huge in US-India relations. We think we have an even bigger year ahead in 2023. We have the Quad summit on the agenda coming up. We have India's G20 presidency, which I know we're all be looking forward to, including Prime Minister Modi," Finer said in his address.

This was a refernce to the 2+2 Quad ministerial meetings taking place this spring, the relaunch of Indo-US CEO dialogue, as well as the launch of critical and emerging technology dialogue early in 2023.

"At a time that can be extremely difficult to forge a bipartisan consensus in Washington on almost anything, there is a strong bipartisan consensus in support of the US-India relationship and has been for decades and a high degree of continuity from one administration to the next," he said.

"There is obviously an increasing alignment of our interests, both geopolitically and as two world leading democracies, and then of course, the deep ties and incredible dynamism of our diaspora community — our cultural ties or commercial ties.

"And then finally, and I don't want this to be lost, there are the ties of our leadership, which we consider to be hugely important," he said.

Among those who attended the event included an array of important dignitaries, with friends of India from the administration, US Congress, from different states, the think-tank community, private sector organisations, and the Indian diaspora. Notable attendees included Special Presidential Coordinator, Amos Hochstein and Lieutenant Governor Elect of Maryland, Aruna Miller.

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