WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State
Antony Blinken said at a meeting with external affairs minister Subrahmanyam
Jaishankar on Friday that their two countries were united in tackling the Covid-19 pandemic together.
Jaishankar, who has spent the past week in the United States seeking help to deal with India's coronavirus crisis, told reporters while standing with Blinken at the State Department India was grateful to the US administration for strong support and solidarity.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken (R) and external affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar arrive to speak to the media prior a meeting at the State Department in Washington. (Reuters)Blinken said in the early days of Covid-19, India was there for the US, something which the country "will never forget". "Now we want to make sure that we are there for and with India," he said.
"We've a lot of issues to discuss. I think our relations have grown stronger over the years and I'm very confident that it'll continue to do so. I want to express our gratitude to the administration and US for strong support and solidarity at the moment of great difficulty for us," Jaishankar told reporters here at the State Department.
Blinken said the US and India are working jointly on many important challenges of "our time". "We are united in confronting Covid-19 together," he said.
"The partnership between the US and India is vital, strong, and I think it is increasingly productive," Blinken added.
(With inputs from agencies)