'Modi's visit gave opportunity to assess Indo-US partnership': Obama administration

'Modi's visit gave opportunity to assess Indo-US partnership': Obama administration

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US provided an "important opportunity" to assess how the Indo-US partnership can help address global challenges and unleash opportunity in the economic and trade space, a topObama administration official said.

"There was a tremendous amount of support and goodwill and his words resonated in many many different audiences around town," Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Nisha Desai Biswal toldPTI on the sidelines of an event here on Tuesday.

Following Modi's visit to Washington from June 6-8, Biswal had described the vision laid out by the Indian leader during his address to the US Congress as the 'Modi Doctrine'.

Biswal, in the city to speak at the launch of the Sri Lanka Policy Forum, saidModi doctrine was "a way of framing what I thought was an important vision" that the Prime Minister put forward in his speech to the US Congress.

"It's a recognition that both President (Barack) Obama and Prime Minister Modi said that we are each other's best partners in an important defining relationship, not only because of what wecan do for our own peoples through our partnership but because of the way we can really advance global concerns, address challenges and create betterment around the world."

She said Modi's visit was an "important opportunity" to talk about that kind of partnership and to best look at the "challenges that we see", including the challenges across the Indo-Pacific, climate change and "how we can move together to address them as well as unleash opportunity on the economic and trade space and in many other endeavors between our two countries."

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From tackling terror to NSG inclusion, Modi - Obama make headway on a range of issues

From tackling terror to NSG inclusion, Modi - Obama make headway on a range of issues

After Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s discussion on Tuesday with US President Barack Obama in Washington, a joint statement described what it billed as their “third major bilateral summit”, after earlier meetings in September 2014 and January 2015.

The statement noted a new military logistics agreement, made common cause in the South China Sea, revealed growing American involvement in helping India build an indigenous aircraft carrier, and announced additional co-development projects for defence equipment. There is a new agreement for sharing terrorist-related information. India will be buying six 1,000 MW nuclear power plants from Toshiba-Westinghouse, with the contract to be signed in 2017. And Washington has thrown its full weight behind India’s candidature for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).

Asia-Pacific cooperation

US officials privately lament New Delhi’s poor follow-up of strategic agreements. This joint statement pins India down to specific action, announcing “a roadmap for cooperation under the 2015 US-India Joint Strategic Vision for the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean Region, which will serve as a guide for collaboration in the years to come.”

In a subtly-worded statement that takes the US-India partnership beyond the 2014 Vision Statement and 2015 Declaration of Friendship, Modi and Obama “resolved that the United States and India should look to each other as priority partners in the Asia-Pacific and the Indian Ocean region.”Read more.

A Sri Lankan man posted a selfie on his Facebook account, taken next to his dead uncle.

From hijacking to funerals to Obama & world leaders: Selfies have a universal appeal
As British national's picture with EgyptAir hijacker catches everyone's eye, here's a look at a few other bizarre selfies



British national Ben Innes' selfie with the hijacker onboard an EgyptAir flight took the internet by storm on Tuesday. What Innes described as the "best selfie ever" divided social media opinion, with some calling it an act of stupidity, while others hailed it as bravery on his part.
Regardless, the selfie proves that people never lose a chance to click themselves at the most opportune moments.
Innes, 26, was one of the last four passengers who were held hostage by hijacker Seif Eldin Mustafa at Larnaca airport in Cyprus. Justifying his move, he claimed that he wanted to take a closer look at the explosives belt to identify whether it was real.
social media has often shown us multiple examples of a 'selfie-crazy' To Click Here.