External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said it's hard to put a limit on India-US relationship which has exceeded expectations, pointing out that like the Chandrayaan, bilateral ties between the two powers will go to the moon and beyond.
Addressing the Indian diaspora at the ‘Colors of Friendship’ event organised at India House in Washington, DC, Jaishankar pointed out that both nations see each other as desirable, optimal and comfortable partners.
"There is one clear message today that our relationship is at an all-time high. But as they say in America, you ain't seen anything yet. So, we are going to take this relationship to a different level, to a different place," he said.
"We keep finding new domains, the more we do with each other, the more we find we are able to do, explore together and achieve together," he said as he stood at the lawns of the official residence of India's Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu.
"Countries do business with each other. Countries do politics with each other. They have military ties, they do exercises, and they have cultural exchanges. But when two countries have that deep human bonding, that's a completely different ballgame. That is today the defining characteristic of our relationship," he said.
"There are no words that can capture it. It is on that foundation that today we are looking ahead for...a new hope on the horizon...So, I think when we look at the horizon, we really see fantastic possibilities out there, and it's the community which is going to deliver on that," Jaishankar said.
Recalling the challenges he faced as a young diplomat in the 1980s, the minister said, "I started at a time in the early '80s when you had to explain where you are from, what you are about, you know, it's good to see members of Congress here. Those were tough days, you know, they didn't even let you into the rooms in the Congress."
Indian-origin senior officials in the Joe Biden administration such as US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Verma, the President's domestic policy adviser Neera Tanden and Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy Dr Rahul Gupta attended the event.
- with inputs from agencies