White House says Joe Biden believes India ties one of the most important in world

White House’s press secretary Jen Psaki on Friday said that US President Joe Biden considers ties with India “one of the most important in the world.” The remarks come ahead of the 2+2 ministerial talks next week where the focus will be the Indo-pacific region and the Ukraine war among other issues.

“President Biden believes our partnership with India is one of the most important relationships we have in the world. He expects this dialogue will continue driving forward our work with India and shared goals in the Indo-Pacific region,” Psaki said.

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“We will also continue our discussions on the consequences of (Russian) president Putin’s war on Ukraine and the crisis in terms of energy and food. It can cover a range of topics,” she added.

On Monday, Union defence minister Rajnath Singh and foreign minister S Jaishankar will be in Washington for the 2+2 dialogue to meet their counterparts – defence Lloyd Austin and secretary of state Antony J Blinken.

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The talks come at a time when the Ukraine war has completed about six weeks.

“The dialogue would enable both sides to undertake a comprehensive review of cross-cutting issues in the India-US bilateral agenda related to foreign policy, defence and security with the objective of providing strategic guidance and a vision for further consolidating the relationship,” a foreign ministry statement said.

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India’s Russian oil import has been one issue that has been brought up over the last few weeks after the United States and other nations slapped sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine conflict.