India A Country Of Enormous Energy And Power: John Kerry

WASHINGTON: Describing India as a country of enormous energy and power, U.S. secretary of state John Kerry has said that the recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a moment when Indians and Americans got a real sense of what the two "natural partners" were able to achieve together.

"Everybody here knows better than anybody in the world, India is, of course, a country of enormous energy and power," he said while speaking at the first ever Diwali celebrations at the U.S. state department headquarters on Thursday.

"It is by far the largest nation in South Asia and last month during Prime Minister Modi's visit to the United States, we had an unforgettable chance both to build on the already deep ties between America and India, and many of you were here when Vice President Biden and I welcomed the prime minister right here to this very stage," he said after lighting the Diyas.

The top U.S. diplomat said Modi's visit was a moment when Indians and Americans could get a real sense of what the two countries were able to accomplish by working together.

India and the U.S. could work together to fight against terrorism, create opportunity for young people in both the nations, combat climate change and achieve greater progress by pushing back the boundaries of science and technology, he said.

"And we are determined to build on that moment that was so well defined here in the prime minister's words and in the vice president's words, so that the world's oldest and largest democracies can realise the truly extraordinary, boundless potential of our relationship," Kerry added.

Lauding the decade-long efforts of leaders from both the countries, he said, they worked hard to prove that India and the U.S. were "natural partners."

The secretary of state said India and the US were two optimistic nations who did not believe in the deterministic forces of history, but that they had the power to shape history.
 

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