13 June, New Delhi: On Tuesday, US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti praised National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, calling him a “international treasure.”
The ambassador praised Doval, noting that “India’s NSA has not only become a national treasure but an international treasure” due to his rise from his rural Uttarakhand upbringing. In addition, the ambassador praised the solid basis that exists between the United States and India.
At the United States-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET) summit in Delhi, Garcetti said, “When I look at the foundation between the United States and India, it is so strong, it is so clear that Indians love Americans and Americans love Indians.”
The US Ambassador to India praised India’s progress in financial technology, saying, “When I look at digital payments and financial technology that India possesses, we have rocked the globe. A ‘tea wala’ in a rural area will ensure that she receives the full amount of money she is owed from the government in the form of a direct deposit to her phone.
He shared a story about a recent meal he had in India with a diverse group of religious leaders, during which one of them said, “We hear all these talks about 4G, 5G, and 6G, but here in India we have something more powerful than that-‘Guruji.'”
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval to talk about regional and global topics of common concern during a two-day visit to India.
During his time in the United Kingdom, Sullivan will be joined by a group of high-ranking American government officials and business executives. In preparation for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s planned state visit to the United States, he has travelled to the nation’s capital.
Earlier in the day, the two national security advisors met behind closed doors to discuss issues of mutual concern. They went to the second Track 1.5 discussion on the topic, held by the Confederation of Indian Industry later that day.
According to a press statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the US Chamber of Commerce hosted the first meeting of this discussion on January 30 in Washington, DC.
According to a news statement issued by India’s Ministry of External Affairs, NSA Sullivan will also meet with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and other dignitaries of the Government of India while in the country.
U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval met in New Delhi recently to talk about the Indo-Pacific and how to work together on specialised military, marine, and aerospace technology.
The two leaders reportedly discussed expanding technology transfer, co-production, and the development of indigenous capabilities in accordance with India’s Make in India and Aatmanirbhar Bharat programmes.
Both US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and NSA Ajit Doval have emphasised that countries in the Indo-Pacific, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East are free to pursue their own interests without being pressured to compromise.
A defence industrial cooperation road plan was signed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Austin, who had just arrived in India.
