White House says relationship with India "stronger than ever"

Washington: Stating that the India-US relationship is “stronger than ever”, the White House reemphasised that there is still a strong future with the I2U2 framework and the grouping is deepening partnerships between the member nations.

I2U2 is a grouping — including India, Israel, UAE and the US — that aims for bolstering connectivity and cooperation in the Middle East region. On Wednesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean Pierre said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to the United States was “extremely successful and important”.

“The visit (PM Modi's visit to the US) last month was extremely successful and important. The relationship with India is stronger than ever and we announced a range of key deliverables and some of them are being implemented. We remain very optimistic as it relates to our long-term future and relationship with India and we believe that’s gonna continue,” she said during the briefing.

Pierre further said that the I2U2 framework is already deepening partnerships among the four countries and there is still a strong future with I2U2.

“We started that (I2U2) initiative a year ago. It was a shared vision of security and prosperous Middle East region, and keep them connected…I2U2 is already deepening partnerships among those four countries and beyond, and evidenced by existing projects and initiatives. There is still a strong future with I2U2. We’re really excited about the prospects of that future,” the White House press secretary added.

Prime Minister Modi was on a state visit to the US from June 21-24, during which he led a special yoga event at the UN Headquarters, held bilateral talks with US President Joe Biden at the White House and also addressed the UN Congress.