A day after United States President Barack Obama unveiled his annual budget, giving a new thrust to the Asia Pacific re-balance, the White House on Wednesday said it sees India as a “fundamental provider” of security and economic growth across the region.
“In so many ways, as the U.S. implements our re-balance, we see India as a fundamental provider of security and economic growth across the region,” Phil Reiner, senior director (South Asia Affairs) at the National Security Council of the White House, told reporters here.
During the recently concluded summit meeting between Mr. Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi last month, Mr. Reiner said the two nations had agreed to “develop a bilateral road map” to put the essence behind this strategic vision going forward.
Describing Mr. Obama’s India visit “highly successful” and as a “game-changing opportunity”, Mr. Reiner said that with the second meeting of the two leaders in just five months, the two countries had really turned things towards a new beginning — a new energy and a new momentum. “The future [of India-U.S. relationship] is bright, and I believe the sky is the limit,” he said.
The U.S. President had made this bilateral strategic partnership a priority at his adminstration’s very outset, he said.
“The Republic Day invitation itself represents a seminal moment in our bilateral partnership. I think many were surprised by the Prime Minister’s issuance of the invitation, and the President was excited and gratified to accept to be the first chief guest as U.S. President,” he said.
Mr. Reiner said the aim of this visit was to not just ride the current wave of the moment, but to look for opportunities to try and step up what the two countries have been trying to do in recent past.
“As the first President in U.S. history to have the honour to be chief guest and the first President to visit India twice during his tenure, we were incredibly excited to use this as a game-changing opportunity,” he said.
At the same time, the White House official cautioned that there might be challenges in the relationship despite the two successful summits in the last five months.
