New Delhi, November 9

Former officials with the Bush and Obama administrations as well as a former chief of the influential House Foreign Affairs Committee on Monday said America’s ties with India would become more broad-based, including in the trade sector that had been reduced to a “transactional relationship”.

Recalling that in 2006, US President-elect Joe Biden had hoped that by 2020 India and the US would be close allies, Daniel Friedman, former US Special Envoy to Af-Pak felt the Biden administration would continue to place a very high priority on continuing to strengthen the US-India ties by addressing global challenges together, especially in South Asia.

They will align more closely on climate change, counter-terrorism and defence, besides moving from a transactional relationship on trade to a broader and deeper partnership, he said at a webinar organised by the All-India Management Association with the US-based Covington and Burling LLP. — TNS