United States Second Lady Usha Vance has described the India-US relationship as “very personal” for her stressing that this is a time of “great opportunity” for ties between the two nations whose relationship has "ebbed and flowed at times".
Speaking during a fireside chat here at the eighth edition of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) Leadership Summit, Vance said, "It is a very personal relationship because I have family members who are in India, and I have many family members here in the United States, and I did grow up visiting India and visiting those family members.”
"So that's always been a relationship that I've personally thought of as very important," she said at the event attended by prominent government, business and community leaders from India and the US.
Time of great opportunity: Usha Vance
Responding to a question on her perspective about the relationship between the two countries, Vance said, "This is a time of great opportunity. And I think if my husband were here, he'd say the same thing. Obviously, the United States and India - the relationship has ebbed and flowed at times.”
"But right now, I think, in the next four years and in the future, the fact that there is this established Indian-American population here, and so many people in India who know the country and know the people who are here doing great things, having great opportunities,” she said during the fireside chat conducted by John Chambers, USISPF chairman and JC2 Ventures founder and CEO.
Vance on India visit
Vance recalled that when she visited India recently with Vice President J D Vance their three young children. "I was struck by the number of people who came up to me to say how much they loved our country, how they visited family, how they visited just for pleasure, that they were hoping for a close relationship looking forward. And I think these personal ties actually really have something to do with it."
Who all were attending the summit?
This marks the first time that business leaders from the QUAD nations—Australia, India, Japan, and the US—have been honored at the USISPF summit. USISPF is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the US-India strategic partnership.
(With PTI inputs)
