Page 6 - The Indian EYE 042624

NATION APRIL 26, 2024 | The Indian Eye 6

INDIA-US RELATIONS

As India begins to vote, US officials praise

Indian democracy and strategic partnership

OUR BUREAU lour and wrote, “Heartiest congrat-
ulations to the great people of India
Washington, DC
as they begin the largest exercise of
he US Department of State electoral choice in the entire history
spokesperson, Matthew Miller, of our species.”
Twas put on the spot to address “With 970 million eligible voters
recent publications alleging demo- and 1.2 million polling places, India’s
cratic backsliding in India and the national election is the Maha Kumbh
US navigating the relationship with Mela of Democracy,” he added.
the country. Matthew Miller, while The world’s largest democrat-
responding to a question, reaffirmed ic exercise kicked off in the country
America’s relations with India and today, with the first phase of polling
said that the latter country is an im- in 102 constituencies across 21 states
portant strategic partner of the US. and Union Territories.
“So, India is the world’s largest This Lok Sabha election, being
democracy, it is an important strate- held from April 19 to June 1, is set
gic partner of the United States, and to be the second longest polling exer-
I expect that to remain true,” Miller cise in the country’s electoral history
said in a daily press briefing on Mon- after the first general election, which
day. On April 4, US Department of was held over five months between
State spokesperson Mathew Miller September 1951 and February 1952.
questioned whether the state depart- First-time voters show their fingers marked with indelible ink after casting their votes during The last general elections in
ment was taking a stand on the arrest phase-I of voting for the Lok Sabha elections in Sonitpur, Assam on Friday (ANI) 2019 were also held in seven phases.
of Indian opposition leader Arvind Vote counting will be done on June 4.
Kejriwal but not doing the same on Prime Minister Narendra Modi
the arrests of Pakistani opposition rule of law and human rights. and the President of US-India Busi- is seeking his third consecutive
leaders. The arrest of Delhi Chief Minis- ness Council (USIBC), Atul Keshap term, while the opposition bloc-IN-
Matthew Miller refused to cate- ter Arvind Kejriwal has been raised has said that the country’s national DIA- a coalition of opposing parties
gorise both cases into one and said several times in the press briefing. election is the Maha Kumbh Mela of formed to take on the BJP in the
that the US wanted to see everyone Meanwhile, Congratulating the Democracy. In a post on X, Keshap general elections, is looking to oust
in Pakistan treated with consistent people of India, American diplomat, posted a picture of the Indian trico- him from power.

Russia-India sign pact for a large research hub in New Delhi

he Higher School of Economics, located in Russia, and the Univer- estvo’ that specializes in humanitarian projects abroad as well as the Rus-
sity of Delhi signed an agreement on strategic cooperation and joint sian House in New Delhi and the Russian Embassy in India.
Tactions, and a large research hub will begin operating at the partner The summit brought together rectors of Indian and Russian univer-
university here. sities, diplomats, politicians, scientists, and businessmen to explore new
New Delhi hosted the Indo-Russian Educatio Summit last week, be- opportunities for cooperation in education, science and innovative tech-
coming the largest event of its kind in the history of India-Russia bilateral nologies as well as professional training.
relations, according to the Russian embassy in India. “At the plenary session on April 11, Deputy Head of Rossotrudnich-
About 60 Russian universities arrived in the national capital from estvo Pavel Shevtsov noted that the Summit provides leading Indian and
Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Siberia, Crimea, the Urals and other regions. Russian universities with an unprecedented platform to engage in trans-
“During the three-day educational forum, the Higher School of Eco- formative dialogue and exchange,” the statement read.
nomics (HSE) and the University of Delhi entered into an agreement on The programme of the forum included three panel discussions, in-
strategic cooperation and joint actions. As part of it, a large research hub cluding, “Russia - India - BRICS: Role of Higher Education in the De-
will start operating at the partner university from India,” the embassy stat- velopment of Comprehensive Cooperation”, “Career Opportunities for
ed in their statement. Indian Graduates of Russian Universities and Business as a Customer
HSE University is a national research university located in Moscow, for the Training of Indian Personnel in Russia”, “Cooperation between
Russia. The summit held from April 11 to 13, was organized by the Rus- Russia and India in the Field of Medical Education” - and a round table
sian State Agency under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ‘Rossotrudnich- themed “Technical Universities”.

www.TheIndianEYE.com