New Delhi: A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Russia, US ambassador to India Eric Garcetti came down heavily on New Delhi on Thursday, saying that the India-US relationship was wider and deeper than it's ever been, but it was not deep enough to be taken "for granted".
Addressing a conclave on the India-U.S. defence and security partnership, Garcetti said, "It's important for us as Americans and as Indians to remember the more we put into this relationship, the more we will get out. The more we insist on a kind of cynical calculation in the place of a trusted relationship, the less we will get."
"As I also remind my Indian friends, while it is wider and it is deeper than it's ever been, it is not yet deep enough that if we take it for granted from the Indian side towards America, I'll fight a lot of defence battles trying to help this relationship ahead," added Garcetti.
"I respect that India likes its strategic autonomy, but in times of conflict, there is no such thing as strategic autonomy. We will, in crisis moments, need to know each other. I don't care what title we put to it, but we will need to know that we are trusted friends… that in times of need in the next day be acting together, that we’ll know each other’s equipment, that we know each other’s training, we’ll know each other’s systems, and we’ll know each other as human beings as well", he added.