India, US Have Overcome Hesitations Of History, Says Diplomat Verma

WASHINGTON DC (ANI) – Hailing bilateral cooperation with India, the United States Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources and former American Ambassador to India, Richard Verma said the progress in ties was “unimaginable” a few decades ago.

Appreciating the progress made, Verma cited Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement, that the two nations have now overcome those hesitations of history.

Addressing an event titled ‘The United States & India: Milestones Reached and the Pathway Ahead’ at the Hudson Institute in the US on September 16 Verma said, “I will say this is exactly the right time to assess where we are in the US-India relationship. We are now entering about a quarter century of progress. Progress that was unimaginable only a few decades ago. For too long, our recent history was not one of cooperation. We were divided by Cold War geopolitics. We lost nearly a generation of progress, from the mid-60s to the late 90s. But as Prime Minister Modi has rightfully pointed out, we have now overcome those hesitations of history.”

Verma, who also served as the US Ambassador to India in the past, said the progress in India-US ties has been driven by a change of policies in both New Delhi and Washington.

“The progress was driven by a change of policies in both capitals. This took real leadership and creativity in key sectors like energy, security, and trade. We also faced collective threats to the post-World War II order that spurred much of our new alignment and renewed cooperation,” Verma said.

“But at the core, it was the hard work of millions of people in our two countries who pulled us closer together by travelling, studying, researching, developing joint products, and taking the risk to immigrate and start over – a route that led to some now four-and-a-half million Americans of Indian descent contributing to every facet of American life,” he added.

The US Deputy Secretary of State also hailed the defense cooperation between the two countries, and said today India is the only country that holds the designation of a “major defense partner of the US.” Our two militaries understand each other,” Verma said.

He further emphasized the importance of Quad grouping and the enhanced cooperation and focus on the Indo-Pacific region.

The US Deputy Secretary of State also affirmed support for India getting a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council.

“Ambassador Linda Thomas Greenfield, our Ambassador to the United Nations, once again, called for India to have a permanent seat on a reformed United Nations Security Council. We welcome and support India playing a more prominent global leadership role in the institutions that matter,” he said.

Noting the progress made in the India-US relations recently, Verma also pointed out that there are challenges that still need to be overcome and not take the recent gains “for granted.”