US Ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti, discussed the “close friendship” between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden, highlighting how it has contributed to the growing partnership between the two nations. In an interview with ANI, Garcetti described PM Modi as the most pro-American Prime Minister in Indian history and President Biden as the “most pro-Indian president we’ve had in US history.”
“These are two men (PM Modi and Joe Biden) who have such a close friendship, the most pro-American prime minister we’ve ever seen in Indian history, the most pro-Indian president we’ve had in US history and that’s building on people who have been very strong before. I think they are representative of the people in their country, the closeness that we have,” he said.
Garcetti also spoke about the Quad, an alliance between the US, India, Japan, and Australia, calling it a “powerful place” to set a shared vision, uphold principles, and devise solutions for the Indo-Pacific region. “The Quad is a powerful place to set a vision, to share principles and to come up with common solutions in the Indo-Pacific. It’s a contrast to nations that don’t want to play by the rules, don’t believe in the rule of law, but I think we will build solutions. It’s about what we can do proactively and this was a giant step forward,” he said.
He emphasized that the four Quad nations share a vision of a free and prosperous Indo-Pacific, and the forum is focused on addressing common challenges and standing by principles that not every country upholds. During the sixth Quad Summit, hosted by President Biden in Wilmington, Delaware, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese were present.
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According to Garcetti, the Quad focuses on cooperation across several areas, including disaster relief and supply chain management. “It’s not about any one nation. It’s really about these four nations and this common vision that there should be a free open, prosperous Indo-Pacific and if you look at the declaration, it underscores that from cooperating together on health care, whether it’s security and making sure our coast guards can act with each other in a way during a humanitarian disaster that can keep our people safe and protected or whether it’s looking at economic development of things like supply chains to make sure no one country can throttle those supply chains in critical minerals,” he said.
He assured that the Quad is not intended to threaten any nation, adding that the collaboration is designed to address shared challenges. “We put a billion dollars together between just US and India to find climate solutions when we have almost 900 million people who are climate-vulnerable in our two countries. So of course, other countries will look in but nobody should feel threatened by the Quad. But the Quad is about standing up for principles that not every country shares. It is about finding solutions to common challenges that not everybody is doing in a multilateral way and I think it is inspiring the world. The Quad doesn’t just work in four countries, we are looking at the entire region and how we can give something to everyone,” he added.
Garcetti clarified that Quad is not a military alliance aiming to project power but is focused on preserving peace and fostering prosperity. “There’s no question that security and peace is the most important thing for any country and for all of our people. So whether it’s the new announcement on Coast Guard integration and having our crews work together or whether it’s the hub to allow some of our military planes and things like that to be able to interoperate, be fixed in each other’s countries that show interoperability to protect our people, but it is not first and foremost, some sort of military alliance looking to project power, it is looking to preserve peace and to make sure that we have prosperity for the entire plan,” he said.
“In the Indo-Pacific, it’s a contrast to nations that don’t want to play by the rules, don’t believe in the rule of law, but I think it will build solutions. It’s about what we can do proactively and this was a giant step forward,” Garcetti concluded.
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