India-US strategic partnership has never been more dynamic: Antony Blinken

Washington: The strategic relationship between India and the US has never been so dynamic as they team up on everything from advanced semiconductors to defence cooperation, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said.

Speaking days after India successfully hosted the G-20 Summit and President and Prime Minister Narendra Modi held bilateral talks in New Delhi, Blinken said that both India and the US will benefit from several collaborations they have entered into.

“The US-India strategic partnership has never been more dynamic, as we team up on everything from advanced semiconductors to defence cooperation," Blinken said on Wednesday in his remarks on “Power and Purpose of American Diplomacy in a New Era” at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) here.

Blinken said the Biden administration has elevated the Quad partnership with India, Japan, and Australia to deliver for the countries and the world on everything from manufacturing vaccines to strengthening maritime security to addressing climate challenges.

In November 2017, the four nations gave shape to the long-pending proposal of setting up the "Quad" to develop a new strategy to keep the critical sea routes in the Indo-Pacific free of any influence.

“And just this past week at the G20, President Biden and Indian Prime Minister Modi announced another ambitious transportation, energy, and technology corridor that will connect the ports of Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, France, Germany, Italy, and the EU will team up with the US and India to turbocharge clean energy production, and digital connectivity, and strengthen critical supply chains across the region,” Blinken said.

The new economic corridor, which many see as an alternative to China's controversial Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), was jointly announced last week by the leaders of the US, India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, France, Germany, Italy and the European Union on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi.

BRI, an ambitious project launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping, has also drawn criticism about its debt sustainability, especially from smaller countries.

Xi unveiled the BRI in 2013 with an aim to link China, the global manufacturing giant, with Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Gulf region, Africa and Europe with a network of land and sea routes.