America's partnership with India is one of its most consequential relationships, the Biden administration said here on Monday, ahead of next month's official state visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the invitation of President Joe Biden.

"Our partnership with India is one of our most consequential relationships and we work closely with India on a number of vital priorities. The state visit is an opportunity to deepen some of these partnerships, whether it be ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific and ensuring that it is a region that is more connected, more prosperous, more secure and more resilient," state department's Deputy Press Secretary Vedant Patel told reporters at his daily news conference.

"Obviously, between India and the United States, there exists an opportunity to deepen trade issues, deepen security partnerships. There is an opportunity to address some shared global challenges like global health and addressing the climate crisis. So again, I am not going to get ahead of the state visit, but we very much look forward to hosting the Indian government," Patel said in response to a question.

Secretary of State Tony Blinken, he said, is the country's and the president's chief diplomat and one of his most trusted and longest-serving foreign policy advisors.

"We of course are in constant communication with our partners at the White House on things like state visits and visits by foreign dignitaries and things of that sort," Patel said.

"But I am not going to get into the specific deliberations beyond that. And like I said, our partnership with India is one of the most consequential and it is why we are very much looking forward to hosting them in a state visit next month," he added.

"Our partnership with India is one of our most consequential and of course, deepening our trade relationship is a key priority and has been one as it relates to our partnership with India. Of course, another key component of this is our deep cultural exchanges and people-to-people ties as we are both democracies," Patel said in response to another question.

"We are eager to welcome Indian students interested in studying here through the appropriate visa systems and otherwise," he said. PTI LKJ RC

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