Staff Reporter :
Washington would not hesitate to act and engage on issues and areas that are in its interests be it in South Asia or any other parts of the world.
Vedant Patel, US Principal Deputy Spokesperson, came up with the remarks in the weekly press briefing held in Washington DC on Wednesday.
One journalist asked him : Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in Washington, D.C. already. Prior to this visit, Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor, met with Ajit Doval, the security advisor of India. And at that meeting, Ajit Doval stated it is important for India and all countries to refrain from taking any initiative in neighboring countries that may have negative impact on their national interest. Leading Indian daily quoted him as
saying U.S. should not do anything that disturb the balance and stability in the region of South East Asia. For example, in the time of Khaleda Zia’s regime in Bangladesh, there was 10 truck – military grade arms was about to smuggle to ULFA, the terrorist organization in Assam, and it was that main issue about the security.
Replying to this query, Vedant Patel said, “I will say two things. First, broadly, the US will not hesitate to act and engage on issues and areas that are in its interests. But what I will also say is that as it relates to the region, India is an important partner on a lot of these pursuits. We work cooperatively with our Indian partners to uphold a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
“We jointly tackle global challenges, and we look forward to deepening our relationship with our Indian partners to continue to work towards a world and an Indo-Pacific region – including Southeast Asia – that is open, prosperous, secure, stable, and resilient,” he continued.
The spokesperson was also asked about US reaction regarding 57 congressmen and 18 senators who had written a letter to President Joe Biden about the human rights violation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Vedant Patel said, “We have talked about human rights at the nexus of a number of countries around the world. We’ve done so clearly. We regularly engage at the senior levels on our human rights concerns, including freedom of religion and freedom of belief. Our view is that a secure, prosperous, and democratic and pluralistic India is a natural partner for the United States, and that I am sure is something our Indian partners view as well.”
“We also regularly meet with civil society representatives, both in the United States and in India and in other parts of the world where we raise these issues as well. We value their perspective and we think that it’s critical to help them to inform our work as well,” he continued.
