US President Joe Biden believes partnership with India is one of most important relationships: White House

US President Joe Biden believes that the US-India partnership is the most important relationship the United States has in the world, said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Friday (local time).

While speaking about the India-US 2+2 dialogue under the Biden administration next week, Psaki said that the President expects that the dialogue will continue driving forward US' work with India and shared goals in the Indo-Pacific region.

"President Biden believes our partnership with India is one of the most important relationships we have in the world. As you know, he met with Presi- -- Prime Minister Modi and other Quad leaders in March. He expects that at this 2+2, Secretary Blinken and Secretary Austin will continue driving forward our work with India and our shared goals in the Indo-Pacific region and around the world," she said in a statement.

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Secretary of Defense Lloyd J Austin III will welcome Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in an enhanced honour cordon ceremony at the Pentagon on April 11 (Sunday). India and the US are set to hold the 2+2 dialogue between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar, and their respective American counterparts on Sunday.

The US State Department has also informed that Secretary of State Antony J Blinken and Secretary of Defense will welcome their Indian counterparts in Washington DC on Sunday.

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The EAM, who will be visiting the US on April 11-12, will also meet his counterpart, Secretary of State Blinken separately and is also scheduled to meet senior members of the US administration to advance India-US strategic global partnership, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi informed during a briefing. Ahead of the 2+2 dialogue, Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday spoke with EAM Jaishankar on a phone call to review regional and global priorities, including the situation in Ukraine. The last 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue between the two countries was held in October 2020 in New Delhi.

India and the United States held a bilateral 2+2 inter-sessional meeting in September last year in Washington and exchanged assessments on developments in South Asia, the Indo-Pacific region and the Western Indian Ocean.