The White House on Monday called India a vibrant democracy, dismissing any concerns about the country’s democratic health.
The statement comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official state visit to the US.
Speaking to reporters at a news conference, John Kirby, the Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council in the White House, stated that India was a vibrant democracy and anybody who visited the nation’s capital would see it for themselves. Kirby addressed PM Modi’s state visit, saying that the two sides would discuss India’s democratic institutions during the visit, PTI reported.
“India is a vibrant democracy. Anybody that, you know, happens to go to New Delhi can see that for themselves. And certainly, I would expect that strength and health of democratic institutions will be part of the discussion,” Kirby said.
When questioned further about PM Modi’s state visit, Kirby labelled India a “friend”, stating that friends "never shy away" from discussing crucial matters. He said that the state visit would help advance and strengthen the partnership between the two countries.
“Look, we never shy away. And you can do that with friends. You’re supposed to do that with friends. You never shy away from expressing concerns that we might have with anyone around the world. But this (State) visit is really about advancing what is now and what we hope will be a deeper, stronger partnership and friendship going forward,” he said.
Kirby said India is a strong partner with the United States on many levels.
“You saw that in Shangri-La Secretary (of Defense, Lloyd) Austin announced some additional defense cooperation now that we’re going to pursue with India. Of course, there’s an awful lot of economic trade between our two countries. India is a member of the Pacific Quad and a key friend and partner with respect to Indo-Pacific security,” he continued.
Concluding his response, Kirby stated that there were “innumerable reasons” on why India mattered and that the president looked forward to PM Modi’s state visit.
“I could go on and on and on. There are innumerable reasons why India certainly matters, not just bilaterally between the two of our nations, but multilaterally on very many levels. And the president is looking forward very much to having Prime Minister Modi here to talk about all those issues and to advance and deepen that partnership and that friendship,” Kirby said.