The United States urged India on Saturday to bolster its role as a global power and force for regional stability, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first visit to Washington since his election in May. In a speech wrapping up two days of talks, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel also played up deepening defence industry co-operation but did not have any major new arms export deals to announce.
"The United States strongly supports India's growing global influence and military capabilities including its potential as a security provider from the Indian Ocean to the greater Pacific," Hagel told an invited audience. Both Washington and New Delhi share concerns about the increasing geopolitical assertiveness of China, which from economic parity with India in 1980 now has an economy that is four times as large.
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