US, India not just allies, we're strategic allies: Rubio

India and the US are not just allies, but strategic partners who get to work together in different regions of the world, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said during his talks with Foreign Minister S Jaishankar in New Delhi.

Rubio, who began his four-day India visit yesterday, met his Indian counterpart Jaishankar this morning. During their delegation-level talks, the top US diplomat said that the strategic ties set apart the relation between India and US from other countries.

"The US and India aren't just allies. We are strategic allies and that's of critical importance. We obviously work with countries all over the world on a variety of issues, but our strategic partnership is what sets this relationship apart because it's not simply limited to the region, it extends to offer opportunities to cooperate globally in different regions of the world, and that includes potentially, as I said, as we discussed a bit last night at dinner, in the Western Hemisphere and places like that," he said.

He further noted that India and the US, being the two largest democracies in the world, have many common interests.    �"NDTV