Washington, DC – The United States welcomed the new Indian Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar at the White House and the State Department with meetings and declarations that US-India relationship momentum generated by the US President Barack Obama’s recent visit would be sustained.
According to a State Department Spokesperson, “On Thursday, February 19 the Department of State welcomed Indian Foreign Secretary Jaishankar back to Washington, DC.” Under Secretary Wendy Sherman met with him to discuss a range of bilateral and regional issues while Deputy Secretary Tony Blinken hosted him for a working lunch to follow-up on the President’s visit and discuss implementation of the US-India Joint Statement.
The spokesperson added, “We value the very positive working relationship we had with him while he served as Ambassador to the United States and thank him for his efforts in advancing the US-India Strategic Partnership, and we look forward to working with him in his new role as India’s Foreign Secretary.”
Jaishankar also met National Security Advisor Susan E. Rice on February 20 at the White House where they “exchanged views on regional events and agreed that the United States and India will engage in more frequent and deeper consultations on global and multilateral issues.”
According to a statement by NSC Spokesperson Bernadette Meehan, “National Security Advisor Susan E. Rice met today with Indian Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar at the White House.”
Congratulating Jaishankar on his recent promotion to Foreign Secretary, the statement said Rice “affirmed that she looks forward to working with him to further advance the US-India relationship.” “They agreed to sustain the momentum generated by the President’s visit to India for Republic Day and to follow up on key issues, including implementation of civil nuclear cooperation and clean energy and climate cooperation,” the statement added.
Jaishankar also found time in his busy schedule to meet Washington DC based journalists of Indian origin.
In a surprise move, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had appointed Jaishankar as India’s top diplomat a day after Obama’s India visit while Jaishankar was still in New Delhi in the capacity of India’s ambassador to the US.