US wants to take relations with India to next level: Haley

The Trump Administration wants to take the US-India relations to the next level, United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Thursday.

"The US-India relationship is about the future of both the countries, the region and the world," Haley said while delivering the special address on "Advancing India-US Relations", organised by Observer Research Foundation and the US Embassy here.

Talking about the potential which US-India relations hold, she said "no other partnership has the potential" like that of the US and India to ensure peace and stability in the region.

She further called India a "vital strategic partner" of the US in the Indo-Pacific.

"In the coming years, India and the US would continue to stand shoulder to shoulder to maintain stability in the Indo-Pacific region," Haley said.

Noting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had spoken about free and open Indo-Pacific region at the Shangrila Dialogue recently, the US diplomat said Trump also believes in this vision which is "aspirational but realistic".

Stating that the US and India share a commitment to defeat terrorism and the hateful ideology that motivates it, Haley said the US "cannot tolerate a government in Pakistan which supports terrorism".

She hoped that the Pakistan government would change its policy and join in the fight against terrorism.

After the special address, she answered questions from ORF Vice President Samir Saran who raised issues like differences in the perspective of Washington DC and New Delhi on many global issues like Iran, the Singapore Summit of Trump and Kim, Indo-Pacific etc.

Haley also described the Singapore Summit between United States President Donald Trump and North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un as a "huge success" and thanked the international community for it.

The US diplomat further said Kim came to the negotiating table only because of the pressure exerted by the international community with its strong sanctions.

She, however, added that the US pressure on North Korea would continue till it takes full action to denuclearise and fulfil promises.

Talking about the US and China relationship, Haley said that the "US seeks a productive relationship with China. However, it does not share the same democratic values like us."

"Their expansion in the region without respect for rights unlike India will limit their relationship with the US," she added.

Haley, who is on a three-day visit to India, arrived here on June 26.

The 46-year-old diplomat, who is the highest-ranked Indian-American in US President Donald Trump's administration, last visited India in 2014, when she was the South Carolina Governor.