The comments were made in an online press briefing on Tuesday hosted by a think tank, The Centre a New American Security (CNAS), ahead of PM Modi's visit to the US. Curtis went on to add that the Trump administration is prioritising relations with India.
Curtis said that the Trump administration recognises India as an important emerging global power with the potential to transform the Indo-Pacific region and the world. The former White House official also acknowledged that the Indian government has done its groundwork and has responded positively to the change of guards in the US.
Notably, PM Modi will be the fourth leader to visit Trump after he took oath as the 47th President of the US. In less than three months of assuming office, the US President has hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Jordan's King Abdullah II.
Curtis added that it is “quite notable that India is being given such close attention with everything that is happening domestically here under the new Trump administration. She also said the Quad is “something very important to the Trump administration."
"We've already seen a meeting of the Quad foreign ministers, literally on the first day of the Trump administration. So that shows the importance that the Trump administration attaches to India and its role in the Quad," she said.
A day after Trump's inauguration i.e., on January 21, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had a bilateral and Quad meeting.
Rubio met Jaishankar as well as other foreign ministers of the Quad grouping, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Japanese Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi, at the State Department on January 21, the first Quad ministerial meeting of the Trump administration's second term.
(With inputs from AP)
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