(Eds: Dropping an extra word in para 2, para 10)By Lalit K JhaWashington, Nov 14 (PTI) The India-US relationship isgoing to get stronger and better under the Trumpadministration in a wide range of areas, including regionalsecurity issues, trade and economy, terrorism, a senior WhiteHouse official has said.
"India is a natural ally of the United States, because ofthe shared commitment to democracy and to counter-terrorism,and because the region is so vital to the US security," RajShah, the White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary, told agroup of Indian reporters yesterday.
Shah's comments came hours after Prime Minister NarendraModi and US President Donald Trump held their second bilateralmeeting in Manila on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit.
The two countries are going to have a "strongrelationship and it's going to get stronger" under thispresident, he said.
Shah, the highest-ranking Indian-American ever in theWhite House press wing said that US-India relationship shouldstand on its own leg and "not be contingent" on any otherrelationship.
There are a lot more in common between India and the USthan that between US and China, he said.
"The relationship with Modi is his relationship withModi. He likes (him). You know he talks about other leaderstoo... The way in which he talks about a few other leadersthat he just likes and gets along with, Modi is one of them,"he added.
Modi and Trump met for the first time in June, but theyhave spoken on several occasions after Trump was elected asthe US President last year.
"They just get along," he said.
"I think, he (Trump) was impressed with Prime MinisterModi and you know I can't speak too much further than that,but you have a situation where they like each other. Thefundamentals of the relationship are set for a kind of arising tide rising between the two countries," he said.
Describing the June meeting between Modi and Trump as a"really big step," the Principal Deputy Press Secretary saidthe relationship between the two largest democracies of theworld is expanding in a wide range of areas, includingregional security issues, trade and economy in addition toareas like terrorism.
"I think it's moved from security issues now towardeconomic issues in many waysÂ…trade and energy exports, whichhave expanded to India in recent months actually, and a lot ofregional security issues not just kind of global terrorism.
There's democracy promotion in the area," he said.
"This among other things also includes helping countriesand in that region fighting terrorism. For instance, India ishelping Philippines in some of the counter-terrorism issues,"he added.
"So, this relationship has great deal of potential and weare very excited about it," Shah said.
Responding to a question on President Trump's recentvisit to China, Shah said some of the comments that gotattention over the past couple of days that he made in Chinaare not actually inconsistent with anything that he said inthe past which is that when the US has a large bilateral tradedeficit with any country it's not that countries fault forpursuing exports to the United States, it's Americannegotiators fault.
"It's our either poor negotiations or misplacedpriorities that have led to these policies and it's been aproblem for administrations from both parties for decades. Andso we didn't get here overnight and are going to solve itovernight," Shah said.
"But to say that the Chinese alone are responsible forseveral hundred-billion-dollar trade deficit I think is notfully capturing everything that's going on this issue overmany years," he said.
He refuted apprehensions in some quarters in India aboutUS-China relationship and its impact on India.
"India is a natural ally of the US because of the sharedcommitment to democracy and to counter-terrorism, and becausethe region is so vital to US security," he said adding thatUS-India relationship should stand on its own leg and “not becontingent" on any other relationship.
"Obviously, other interests are going to play a role.
But, the US and India are going to have a strong relationshipand it's going to get stronger under this president. Andlooking at it going forward there are so many issues thatChina, Pakistan other countries have a marginal roleÂ… it'sreally between the United States and India," he said.
Very optimistic about the cooperation that can happenbetween the United States and India, Shah said, when it comesto South Asia US has the most common interests with India.
"They have a leading role to play. The expectation fromthe world community is that they will play a leading role insecuring that part of the world," he said. PTI LKJ AJRAMS.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.