India and the US are working with renewed trust in areas of new and emerging technologies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday as he thanked the American leadership for giving him a grand welcome.
Speaking at a luncheon hosted in his honour by US Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House, Modi said the two countries have added and expanded the scope of the cooperation in the defence and strategic areas.
"We are working with renewed trust in areas of new and emerging technologies. We are resolving long pending and difficult issues in trade," he said, adding that with new frameworks like QUAD and I2U2, the two countries are making major progress together.
Modi said that in 2014 during his visit to the US, President Joe Biden had referred to the India-America partnership as a promise over the horizon. "In this period of nine years since then, we have been on a very long and beautiful journey," he added.
He lauded Indian-origin Vice President Harris and her parents, saying “Your contribution to strengthening our strategic partnership has been incredible.”
"Thank you so much for this grand welcome. The sweet melody of the India-US relationship is composed of our people-to-people relations," Modi said at the event also co-hosted by Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Department of State.
On her part, Harris said she and President Biden are grateful for Prime Minister Modi's commitment to strengthen US-India ties.
"As I look around this room, I am struck by the extraordinary impact that the Indian Americans have had on our country in every facet of life," Harris said.
"As we look toward the future, the US and India instinctively turn to each other and are increasingly aligned," she added.
Harris said over the past two and a half years she along with Prime Minister Modi advanced cooperation on climate change on clean energy, terrorism, cybercrime, public health and vaccine production.
"And during this trip, our countries have launched new areas of cooperation from artificial intelligence to semiconductors. As we look toward the future, the United States and India, the world's oldest and largest democracies, instinctively turn to each other and are increasingly aligned," Harris said.
Harris also mentioned her mother Shyamala Gopalan, a breast cancer scientist who hailed from Chennai, during her address. She also spoke about her deep connection to India and her grandfather.
Secretary of State Blinken said that the US and India have become indispensable partners. "In the US, India is part of our daily lives. We laugh at the comedies of Mindy Kaling and dance to the beats of Diljit (Dosanjh) at Coachella," he said.
"Whether we call it the American dream or we call it the Indian dream, whether it's the son of an immigrant from Jalandhar rising through the State Department... our people believe profoundly in that opportunity," he added.
Prime Minister Modi is currently in Washington on a state visit at the invitation of President Joe Biden. The two leaders held a historic summit on Thursday. Biden also held a state dinner for him on Thursday.