Applauding people in India for exercising their right to vote in the general elections, the White House said on Friday that there are not too many more vibrant democracies in the world than India.

National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby applauded the people of India for having a voice in their future government.

Speaking on the India-US relationship under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, the White House official said, “I’m going to stick to the last three years…our relationship with India is extremely close and getting closer.”

“You saw it on a State visit. We have launched all kinds of new initiatives working on critical emerging technologies together and bolstering and expanding the relevance of the Indo-Pacific Quad which India is a part of and then just the people-to-people exchanges and the military cooperation that that we share with India,” Kirby said.

Adding further, he said, “It is a very vibrant very active partnership and uh and we’re grateful for Prime Minister Modi’s leadership.”

When asked if US President Joe Biden really believes that two of his quad partners India and Japan are xenophobic, Kirby stressed that the president was making a broader point.

“I mean the president was making a broader point here about the vibrancy of our own democracy here in the United States and how inclusive and participatory it is,” Kirby said.

(Input from ANI)