"US, India Not Just Allies, We're Strategic Allies": Rubio To S Jaishankar

India and the US are not just allies, but strategic partners who get to work together in different regions of the world, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said during his talks with Foreign Minister S Jaishankar in New Delhi.

Rubio, who began his four-day India visit yesterday, met his Indian counterpart Jaishankar this morning. During their delegation-level talks, the top US diplomat said that the strategic ties set apart the relation between India and US from other countries.

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"The US and India aren't just allies. We are strategic allies and that's of critical importance. We obviously work with countries all over the world on a variety of issues, but our strategic partnership is what sets this relationship apart because it's not simply limited to the region, it extends to offer opportunities to cooperate globally in different regions of the world, and that includes potentially, as I said, as we discussed a bit last night at dinner, in the Western Hemisphere and places like that," he said.

He further noted that India and the US, being the two largest democracies in the world, have many common interests.

"We are the two largest democracies in the world. That alone is a baseline for incredible cooperation. We have so many common interests that makes all the sense in the world for us to continue to build upon. This is not about restoring or reinvigorating, I see some people use that terminology, this is about continuing to build on what is already a very solid and strong strategic partnership, one of the most important ones that we have, I would argue one of the most important ones in the world," he added.

Rubio also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi yesterday. During their meeting, the US diplomat briefed the prime minister on the "sustained progress" in bilateral cooperation across a wide range of sectors. After the meeting, PM Modi said that India and the US will continue to work closely for the global good.