US and India Prioritize Partnership for a Free, Prosperous Indo-Pacific Region
The White House announced that the United States is collaborating with India to ensure a free, secure, and prosperous Indo-Pacific region, emphasizing that this will remain a priority. US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller noted that the US will continue to engage with India on economic issues, underscoring the strengthening of people-to-people connections between the two nations.
“We work with India on economic matters. We worked with them to deepen people-to-people ties between our two countries. Of course, we work with them on a free, secure, prosperous Indo-Pacific and those will continue to be our priorities”, the US State Department Spokesperson said while addressing the media briefing.
When asked if the US plans to send a delegation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s swearing-in ceremony, Miller responded that there are no announcements at this time but advised to stay tuned for updates. “I don’t have any announcements to make today but stay tuned”, he said.
He said that the US will continue to hold the annual two-plus-two dialogue between India and the US, but he could not share other details. “I don’t have any announcements to make with respect to that dialogue, but it is an important priority for us, it’s an important priority for the secretary and we will continue to hold it. But in terms of when it will happen, I can’t tell you sitting here”, Miller said. Calling India the world’s largest democracy, US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller commended the Indian government, voters and poll workers for the successful conduct of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Addressing the media briefing, the US State Department Spokesperson said that the elections that just played out over the last six weeks were the largest exercise of democracy in the world's history. “So India is, of course, the world’s largest democracy and the election that just played out over the last six weeks was the largest exercise of democracy in the history of the world. We commend the government of India, voters, and poll workers for this massive undertaking”, Matthew Miller said.
Matthew Miller emphasized that the US looks forward to continuing working with PM Modi “In terms of the prime minister’s-coalition in the different governments, those are all choices for the Indian people to make and we respect the will of the Indian people”, he said.
Following PM Modi’s victory, US President Joe Biden took to social media platform X to congratulate PM Modi and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on their victory in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. He noted that the friendship between India and the US is only growing. In a post on X, Biden stated, “Congratulations to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the National Democratic Alliance on their victory, and the nearly 650 million voters in this historic election. The friendship between our nations is only growing as we unlock a shared future of unlimited potential”.
The Election Commission has concluded the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, announcing that the BJP secured 240 seats, while Congress won 99 out of the 543 constituencies. In a surprising turn of events, Narendra Modi was unanimously selected as the leader by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), backed by a letter of support from 21 NDA leaders. This significant decision was made during a key meeting at Modi’s official residence in Delhi.
