US stresses important and growing relationship with India

As India replaced its top diplomat with the nation's ambassador in the US, a day after President Barack Obama's visit to India, Washington stressed its "important and growing relationship with India."

"I think, clearly, that's up to the Government of India," State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters Thursday when asked to comment on Indian foreign secretary Sujatha Singh's abrupt replacement with S. Jaishankar.

"As you know, we have an important and growing relationship with India, as evidenced by the fact that the Secretary of State (John Kerry) and the President of the United States were both there in the last couple of weeks," she said

"We appreciate the productive relationship we had with Foreign Secretary Singh and look forward to further advancing the US-India relationship with the new foreign secretary, who, as you know, we have worked quite closely with," Psaki said.

"But obviously, we'll look forward to working with the new ambassador whenever they are named," she added.

Meanwhile, the lone Indian-American member of the US House of Representatives, Ami Bera, has congratulated Jaishankar on his appointment as Indian foreign secretary

Bera, who was one of the four US lawmakers who accompanied Obama on his visit to India, said Jaishankar has been "an excellent ambassador to the US and a dedicated public servant to India."

"Building on the momentum of the Presidential trip to India that I just returned from, I look forward to working with the new foreign secretary to advance the US-India relationship," he said.