The US wants to build a "BFF (best friends forever) relationship" with India, and a change of guard at the White House will not change ties between the two countries, US Ambassador Eric Garcetti said on Wednesday.
Without naming China, Garcetti said if New Delhi has to contend with "regional competitors", it will have to reduce the dependence on a single country and added that such a reliance is not just an economic risk, but a security risk as well.
Speaking at the Milken Institute event here at a time when five pension funds with USD 1.8 trillion of assets under management are scouting for investment opportunities in India, Garcetti exhorted the Americans to invest more in the country for their own good.
Borrowing the acronym of the pension funds' tour christened Building Financial Futures, Garcetti made clear American intent on India-US ties.
"We want to build a BFF (best friends forever) relationship between the US and India," he said.
Deploying a colloquial phrase popular on