Washington: In light of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's upcoming state visit to the US, the White House rejected implicit criticism of India as a "vibrant democracy" and stated that its top priority moving forward is to strengthen its "deeper, stronger partnership and friendship" with New Delhi. “India is a vibrant democracy. Anybody that happens to go to New Delhi can see that for themselves,” White House Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby clapped back at National Public Radio's Asma Khalid, who wanted to know if the Biden administration was “at all concerned about the health of democracy in India”.
John Kirby, however, indicated the subject could figure in discussions during the state visit, saying “you can do that with friends; you’re supposed to do that with friends - you never shy away from expressing concerns that we might have with anyone around the world”.
“But this visit is really about advancing what is now and what we hope will be a deeper, stronger partnership and friendship going forward,” he added.
Khalid had earlier asked the representative to explain why PM Modi deserved the state visit at a time when the administration "made a very large focus... on the divide between autocracies and democracies, and there have been questions about the health of India's democracy under Narendra Modi."
“There’s innumerable reasons why India matters, not just bilaterally between the two of our nations, but multilaterally on very many levels. And the President is looking forward very much to having Prime Minister Modi here to talk about all those issues and to advance and deepen that partnership and that friendship,” Kirby said after touching on the strong defence, security, and economic ties between the two countries.