India's Ambassador to the US Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Wednesday said successive Indian Prime Ministers have forged strong ties with Washington, highlighting the long-standing and robust relationship between the two countries.
"The India-US relationship has always been based on a strong bilateral construct. Successive Indian PMs have forged strong relationships with the US. Like Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, the US is our foremost partner for trade and technology," he said while participating in a panel discussion at an event titled 'India on the Hill: Charting a Future for Indo-US Relations' here.
The ambassador said that the US is a country with whom India has the most extensive military and naval exercises.
"We have developed mechanisms where we and our strategic partners' navies collaborate very very well," said Shringla.
The ambassador touched upon India's 'neighbourhood first' policy that envisions development for all its neighbouring countries.
"Our neighbourhood first policy envisages development for all nations in our extended neighbourhood. We have allocated USD 10 billion for Bangladesh," Shringla remarked.
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The two-day event began on Wednesday and is being organised by The Heritage Foundation and the Observer Research Foundation (ORF).
The 'India on the Hill' conference will attempt to support the rapidly maturing bilateral partnership by untangling existing differences and advancing shared strategic interests.
The programme will feature participation and keynote addresses from members of Indian Parliament, members of the US Congress, and key Indian and American leaders from the government, industry, and academia to formulate a roadmap for joint leadership of the international order in the 21st century.