Summary Kerry "excited" about India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
NEW DELHI (AFP) - US Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday he was "excited" about India s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and he wanted a "new relationship" with the new right-wing government.
Kerry said he wanted to "see things move in a very positive way" as he seeks to reboot the US-India relationship after a recent spate of diplomatic disputes between the world s two largest democracies.
"We want a new relationship. We want to see things move in a very positive way," Kerry told India s NDTV during a visit to New Delhi.
"We are excited about Prime Minister Modi s direction and wanting to provide jobs," Kerry in a joint interview along with US Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker.
"The things he wants to do for electricity, for the people. We think there s a lot that the United States and India can work on together."
Kerry opened his first meetings with Modi s government on Thursday, including with Finance and Defence Minister Arun Jaitley, a key player in the new government.
The United States and India, at odds during the Cold War, began to reconcile in the late 1990s with leaders describing the world s two largest democracies as natural allies.
But ties have soured recently after numerous disputes, including charges of US surveillance against Indian politicians, a spat over the arrest of an Indian diplomat in New York last year and a trade rift that could scuttle a global customs deal.
Kerry will meet Friday with Modi, a Hindu nationalist who was shunned by Washington until not long before his sweeping election victory in May.
