'US deepening its relationship with India in several areas'

Washington: The United States is deepening its relationship with India in several key areas, a senior administration official said Monday.

"India is a country in which we are deepening our relations within a number of keyspaces, especially as it relates to deepening our economic ties, deepening our security cooperation," State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters at his daily news conference.

"The president had the opportunity to briefly see Prime Minister Modi in the margins of the G7 a couple of weeks ago," he added.

Patel said that he imagines there will be a number of additional areas where the two countries could continue to deepen cooperation.

"National Security Adviser Sullivan just had a visit to Delhi a number of weeks ago as well," he said.

Responding to a question on Pakistan, Patel, though he denounced terrorism, said "ultimately, this is between India and Pakistan. Broadly, of course, we welcome any countries making more positive relations with their neighbours. But as it relates to this specifically, I just, I don't have anything to offer," he added.