Jet fuel put into US-India ties by PM Modi's visit: Former-USCIRF commissioner

By Reena Bhardwaj
Washington DC [US], June 26 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to the United States has injected "jet fuel" into the ties between the two countries according to the former chief of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).
"The relationship between India and the United States has been good for a long time. But it has been taken to a whole different hemisphere in the last several days. It's been trending in that direction, but jet fuel was just put into the US-Indian relationship by Prime Minister Modi's visit here," Johnnie Moore told ANI in an exclusive interview.
"That is only good for the world. It brings more peace. It brings more prosperity. We can learn, we can learn from one another in profound ways. And this was not India coming to the United States, with its handout. It was the exact opposite. It was in India coming to the United States with just the help the US needs at just the right time," he said.
Moore, who served as the head of the USCIRF, a government watchdog focussing on religious freedom around the world, said that PM Modi arrived in the US not just with "the message of a confident India, ready to take on the world, in some ways, he reminded Americans to have more confidence in the idea of democracy."
Terming it as "a piece of history" for India and the United States, Moore said the PM's visit demonstrated a confident India that was ready to take on the world and that ties between the two countries can bring more peace, more prosperity in the world, and the two countries can learn from each other in many ways.
"He reminded Americans of our own confidence in the democratic system as the world's largest democracy, the world's oldest democracy came together to say, this is not the twilight of democracy in the world. It is a new dawn and in and in many ways, it demonstrated that the free world isn't just led by the United States, in many ways, it's led by the United States and India," the American evangelist said.
According to Moore, the relationship between India and the US has been good for a long time. "But it has been taken to a whole different hemisphere in the last several days."
PM Modi's US visit saw the expansion and deepening of the technology partnership, a key area of cooperation between the two countries.
The leaders welcomed the launch of the interagency-led Strategic Trade Dialogue in June 2023 and directed both sides to undertake regular efforts to address export controls, explore ways of enhancing high-technology commerce, and facilitate technology transfer between the two countries.
In the space sector, the two leaders welcomed the decision of NASA and ISRO to develop a strategic framework for human spaceflight cooperation by the end of 2023.
PM Modi, Joe Biden hailed the signing of the MoU for the manufacture of GE Aerospace fighter jet engines in India for Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL's) Light Combat Aircraft Mk 2.
Moore said, "I have to say, just anecdotally, I'm not sure a single head of state has met more individuals on a single visit than what I saw here, as I watched the prime minister meet, you know, hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people just in my own my own seeing, not to mention everything else that happened."
Meanwhile, according to a CNN report, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and India, the world's largest democracy, represent a lynchpin in Biden's strategy in Asia.
India recently surpassed China to become the most populous country on Earth. No major global challenge, from climate change to advances in technology, can be addressed without India's buy-in, in Biden's view, as per CNN.
Amid growing tensions between the US, and China, there are few partners that Biden is more eager to cultivate.
As per officials, this was the rationale behind inviting PM Modi for a state visit, only the third of Biden's presidency so far.