The US official added that India’s leadership at G20 broadens its capacity to stand as a force of good in the world…reports Asian Lite News
US President Joe Biden is looking forward to traveling to India in September for the G20 Leaders Summit, the administration said on Saturday and also thanked India for its ‘tremendous’ work at hosting the G20 Foreign Ministerial meeting last month. The US administration affirmed that 2023 is going to be a “big year” for the India-US relationship.
“This is gonna be a big year. Of course, India is hosting the G-20. This year, the United States is hosting APEC. Japan is hosting the G7. We have lots of our QUAD members who are taking on leadership roles. And it provides opportunities for all of us to bring our countries closer together,” said Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Donald Lu.
The US official added that India’s leadership at G20 broadens its capacity to stand as a force of good in the world.
“We are really thankful for the tremendous work India has done by hosting the G-20 Foreign Ministerial meeting last month, and we look forward to actively participating in the many future G-20 meetings coming up this year, including the New Delhi Leaders Summit in September,” Lu said.
“I know our President is looking forward to traveling to India in September. That will be his first trip to India as part of the G-20 Leaders Summit. We’re really excited about what’s to come in the next few months,” he said.
“We’re only a little over three months into this new year. And we’ve had a number of really exciting things that happened,” he said.
Previously, senior leaders from the US administration like Secretary of State Tony Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo visited India and also attended India-US Forum in Delhi.
Given its position as the G20 president, India has been at the forefront of promoting a constructive agenda for the G20.
Donald Lu praised Union Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar for his engagement with the members of the QUAD forum during the public events at Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi.
“In March Dr. Jaishankar hosted his QUAD counterparts for a ministerial meeting and extraordinary public events at the Raisina Dialogue with all four foreign ministers together. It was the first such public discussion with QUAD foreign ministers and really drove home how our four countries are coming together to support the people of the Indo-Pacific,” he said.
“And then lastly, this month, the arrival of our new Ambassador Eric Garcetti. He has already received a really warm welcome from our Indian and American staff at the US Embassy. Once he presents his credentials, he is looking forward to meeting with the rest of India and I think India will find that he is young, he is enthusiastic, and he’s eager to bring our relations to new heights,” Lu said.
