Secretary of State Marco Rubio With Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar

EXTERNAL AFFAIRS MINISTER JAISHANKAR:  Secretary Rubio, a very warm welcome.  I know this is your first visit.  Looking forward to our discussions today.  Now, we have a Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership, which I think in plain language means that we have a very deep, a very broad-based cooperation, and a relationship that impacts and influences other regions in the world.  And that is because we have converging interests on many issues and in many parts of the world. 

So I look forward to our conversation today.  These are complicated times, but as strong partners, I’m very confident we’ll have very open and productive discussions.  Once again, a very warm welcome. 

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Well, thank you for welcoming us and our entire delegation.  It’s already been a fantastic first day, and we’re looking forward to our visits and our talks today and learning more about the country.  And here a four-day trip probably doesn’t do a country of this size and diversity justice in terms of all the things we need to learn and see, but it’s certainly a good start.  And so thank you for welcoming us the way you do. 

And as you’ve highlighted, the United States and India aren’t just allies; we’re strategic allies.  And that’s of critical importance.  We obviously work with countries all over the world and all over the region on a variety of issues as they emerge, but our strategic partnership is what sets this relationship apart.  Because it’s not simply limited to the region; it extends to opportunities to cooperate globally in different regions of the world.  And that includes potentially, as I said even as we discussed a bit last night at dinner, in the Western Hemisphere and places like that.   

So thank you for welcoming us.  We have a lot to discuss and a lot to work on.  But this is an – it is a – we are the two largest democracies in the world, and so that alone is a baseline for incredible cooperation.  But we have so many common interests that it makes all the sense in the world for us to continue to build – really, to build upon – this is not about restoring or reinvigorating; I’ve seen some people use that terminology.  It doesn’t – I don’t – this is about continuing to build on what is already a very solid and strong, strategic partnership, one of the most important ones that we have and, I would argue, one of the most important ones in the world. 

So thank you.