India, US relationship in very good health: Jaishankar ahead of Howdy Modi in Houston

The Minister made the statement at a time when US President is gearing up to attend PM Narendra Modi's upcoming 'Howdy Modi' event in the USA next week. 

Trump will be joining Modi at the mega event in Houston named "Howdy, Modi!", an unprecedented show of a US Prez and an Indian Prime Minister appearing in a rally together.

"The relationship is in very good health," the External Affairs Minister said while addressing a press conference here to mark the 100 days of the new Modi government. He termed the India-USA ties as "90 per cent full and 10 per cent half".

He said the India-US relations have come a long way. "Look at the quality of ties, the political comfort, the security cooperation...there is no facet of the relationship today which hasn't gone upwards over the last 20 years. For an event like Houston, from both sides the approach is bipartisan," he said.

Enumerating the achievements of Modi 2.0 in the first 100 days,  S Jaishankar on Tuesday said India is in the best position diplomatically.

Jaishankar said India is taking full advantage of its position that it has developed through its superior diplomacy in the course of the last 100 days.

"We have started from where we have left. We have been active across international platforms and held several bilaterals. Right now India is advantageously positioned and taking full advantage of what it has worked on," the external affairs minister stated in a press conference today.

The Union minister said that Africa has been the focus continent as per the agenda spelled out by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Uganda and India has opened 18 new embassies in the continent as of now and many more are being opened currently.

He stated that Latin America will be the region of focus for India in the next five years, a region which had not received much attention earlier.

Jaishankar said India has continued to work with its regional partners Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, the Maldives in terms of developmental works.

The minister said India has been successful in safeguarding its interests in the international platforms in the last few months and he is "satisfied" with the way things worked out for the country.

He asserted that removal of Article 370 in Kashmir is not a bilateral issue and talks between India and Pakistan will not be possible until terrorism remained an issue between the two countries.

Significantly, the Indian government last month scrapped the Article 370 which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, triggering tension with Pakistan.