NEW DELHI: Many difficult issues remain in the US-India relationship, said US Deputy National Security Advisor Jonathan Finer in Delhi on Monday. This is the first high-level official visit from the US to India after Washington made the allegation about India’s involvement in the foiled assassination attempt on Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun a few days back.
“I think the US and India have had a complicated history. We have not always been wholly aligned and have not always found it easy to work together as partners and we have not found it easy to be on the same side of issues geopolitically. There are many difficult issues that remain in US’s relationship with India right up to the present day,” said Finer, while speaking with India’s former Ambassador to the US Arun K Singh during the Global Technology Summit in Delhi on Monday.
Finer reiterated that the two sides can work through their differences without derailing the economic and bilateral relations. “The US and India have mature relationships that identify our opportunities, like in Quad. There are some aspects on which we agree and some we disagree like the Russia-Ukraine war. However, even on the most challenging issues we can get through,’’ Finer added.
Finer also said that despite the challenges, the US and China cannot get into a conflict as it would imbalance the world. It’s for the same reason that they are reaching out to each other diplomatically – which is indicative through the many high-profile visits of US officials to China and the Chinese President’s visit to the US to attend a summit with President Biden in San Francisco. Finer was a journalist before he became a diplomat and has covered the conflict in Iraq, but said let history judge the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.