'U.S. Committed To Security Partnership With Strong And Influential India'


WASHINGTON: Describing U.S. security engagement with India as crucial to security in the Indo-Pacific region, a U.S. official says Washington is committed to a partnership including a strong and influential India in the security realm.

"Our security engagement with India is a central element of the broad U.S.-India strategic partnership," Nisha Desai Biswal, Washington's Indian-American point person for South Asia, said at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

"That's why we are committed to a partnership that includes a strong and influential India in the security realm," she said speaking on "U.S. Foreign Policy in South Asia: A Vision for Prosperity and Security".

Asserting that the partnership "can contribute to the stability of the Indian Ocean region", Biswal said: "We remain committed to working with India as we develop a joint approach security in the Indo-Pacific."

The U.S. had also expanded its regional consultations with India to include South, Central, West, and East Asia and would soon hold new rounds of several of these dialogues, said the assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs.

"With a sixth round set for early June, the U.S.-India-Japan trilateral dialogue has deepened our discussions on Indo-Pacific economic connectivity, maritime security, and coordination in multilateral fora," she said.

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Source: IANS