President Biden congratulates PM Modi on election victory
Washington, Jun 5 (PTI) President Joe Biden on Wednesday congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his electoral victory, and his administration said it looks forward to expanding its partnership with India to foster prosperity and innovation, address the climate crisis, and ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
Biden, who is currently on a visit to France, personally called Modi to congratulate him.
Later in a post on social media, he said, “Congratulations to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the National Democratic Alliance on their victory, and to the nearly 650 million voters in this historic election. The friendship between our countries continues to grow even stronger as we chart a shared future of limitless possibilities.”
“The friendship between our countries only grows as we unlock a shared future of limitless potential,” Biden said on X, which was followed shortly by similar congratulatory messages from other senior members of his administration, including Secretary of State Tony Blinken.
In a post tagging Biden on Twitter, Prime Minister Modi said he was happy to receive the call from his “friend”.
“I greatly valued his warm words of congratulations and his appreciation for Indian democracy. I conveyed to him that the India-US comprehensive global partnership is set to achieve many new milestones in the years to come. Our partnership will continue to be a force for global good for the benefit of humanity,” Modi said.
In his congratulatory message on X, Blinken said, “The United States looks forward to furthering its partnership with the Government of India and applauds the estimated 650 million voters who exercised their franchise.” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the United States congratulates Prime Minister Modi and the National Democratic Alliance on their victory in the 2024 Lok Sabha general elections.
“Over the past six weeks, nearly 650 million voters have exercised their franchise. This election is the largest exercise of democracy in human history. We commend Indian voters, poll workers, civil society and journalists for their commitment and important contributions to India’s democratic processes and institutions,” Miller said.
“We look forward to advancing our partnership with the Indian government to foster prosperity and innovation, address the climate crisis, and ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific region,” he said.
Miller said that America will continue to consider expanding its partnership with India.
“We work with India on economic matters. We have worked with them to deepen the ties between the people of our two countries. And, of course, we work with them for a free, secure, prosperous Indo-Pacific region. These will continue to be our priorities,” he told reporters at his daily press conference.
Responding to a question on India’s democracy, which was doubted by many in the US during the election process, Miller said: “India is, of course, the world’s largest democracy, and the elections that were held over the last six weeks were the largest exercise of democracy in the history of the world. And we commend the Indian government, the voters and the poll workers for this huge undertaking.” Under Secretary of State for Management and Resources Richard Verma congratulated Indian voters, poll workers, civil society and all those who contributed “to this democratic process”. He said, “Looking forward to continuing to work with Prime Minister Modi and the National Democratic Alliance to advance our US-India partnership for regional peace and security.”
India’s 2024 Lok Sabha elections are the largest elections in the history of democracy, said Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell. He said, “We look forward to continuing our work with the people of India and the newly elected government of Narendra Modi and the National Democratic Alliance to advance the US-India relationship.”
Edward Knight, Chairman of the USIBC Global Board of Directors and Executive Vice Chairman of Nasdaq, in a statement congratulated Modi on his re-election and securing another mandate.
“We also applaud the people of India for demonstrating to the world the importance of active participation in the democratic process as the world’s largest democracy. India’s global leadership has never been more important and USIBC looks forward to further deepening our partnership.”
He said, “The US business community, with the support of the US Government, remains engaged with India and its business community as we seek more ways to foster growth between our countries.”
USIBS President Atul Keshap said, “This election is truly impressive in our history as an electoral choice. Once again, the people of India have shown their great devotion to democracy and human freedom and inspired the entire world.” Millions of citizens of India have expressed their views through the ballot box and given Prime Minister Modi and the NDA a historic mandate for the third consecutive term. He said that the US-India Business Council congratulates them and all Indians on the successful completion of the Lok Sabha elections.
“We look forward to working with the new government and all of India’s elected leaders to expand trade and investment between India and the United States, helping Indians achieve their aspirations for greater prosperity and growth.”
“Our shared prosperity depends on deepening the economic ties between India and the United States, with a goal of achieving a bilateral trade target of at least US$500 billion annually between the world’s two largest democracies. We are committed to fostering a US-India partnership based on trust and cooperation,” Keshap said.
Responding to congratulatory messages sent to him by world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and British President Rishi Sunak, Modi underlined the strength of India’s relations with these countries and his commitment to further strengthen them.
(This story is published as part of an auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No edits have been made by ABP Live to the headline or body text.)