“The interesting thing about the US is that you’ve had five completely different presidents: think Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump and Biden. Now, if a relationship can actually prosper with five very different Presidents, I would say to you that the data clearly indicates a certain stability and that there is enough investment on both sides and structural soundness to the relationship,” Jaishankar said.

“I think today, from an Indian perspective, India-US relations are certainly proofed against political checks,” said Jaishankar.

This vote of confidence in the relationship came after a difficult week for the bilateral relationship, after US officials indicted a 52-year old Indian national as part of a conspiracy directed by an unnamed Indian intelligence official to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a pro-Khalistan figure who is also a US citizen. The matter was reportedly taken up at the highest levels by both governments and New Delhi set up an inquiry to look into America’s allegations earlier this month. Reports have suggested that the incident has strained the bilateral relationship.

Jaishankar’s sentiments were echoed by Jonathan Finer, America’s Principal Deputy National Security Adviser, who was also speaking at the same eeent.

“The United States and India have a complicated history. We have not always been wholly aligned. We have not always found it easy to work together as economic partners. We have not always found it easy to be on the same side of issues geopolitically. And in some ways, the most important step forward for the United States and India is recognizing, on each side, that there is much more that connects us than that divides us. And that does not mean, by the way, that we will agree on everything. There are many difficult issues that remain in this relationship, right up to the present day,” Finer acknowledged at the outset.

However, he argued that successive Indian and American governments had worked to ensure that differences can be managed even as both sides cooperate in areas of shared interest.

“No two countries are going to be perfectly aligned, including countries with issues and histories and cultures as strong as strong and, in some ways, as different as the United States and India. But one thing that we have demonstrated is, even on the issues that are the most challenging in our relationship, we can work through them constructively and get to a better place,” Finer said.

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Updated: 04 Dec 2023, 09:56 PM IST