US ‘eager’ to strengthen cooperation with India: Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel

Washington: US State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said on Thursday that the US is eager to continue deepening and strengthening its cooperation with partners in India.

Asked about Lok Sabha elections in India and whether the US has sent any observers, Patel responded, “I am not aware of the United States sending any observers. We generally don’t in the case of advanced democracies like India.”

“We, of course, are eager to continue to deepen and strengthen our cooperation with our partners in India, and we are just going to let the election play out. I don’t have any assessment or comment to offer on that,” he aat a press briefing.

With the world’s largest democratic exercise underway in India, voters will begin exercising their franchise on Friday to elect 543 members of Parliament in a seven-phased election that is unparalleled in terms of its scale and logistics and covers every voter of the vast and diverse country.

A total of 16.63 crore voters will be voting in the first phase on April 19, deciding the fate of 1,625 candidates. According to the data released by the Election Commission of India, a total of 1.87 lakh polling stations have been set up, while 18 lakh personnel have been deployed across the 102 constituencies going to the polls on Friday.

The first phase, with the highest number of parliamentary constituencies among all seven phases, will witness polling in 21 States and Union Territories. An estimated 8.4 crore male voters, 8.23 crore female voters, and 11,371 third-gender electors are eligible to vote in the first phase of Lok Sabha polls, according to the ECI data. (ANI)

Also Read: We’re watching Rahul Gandhi’s case in Indian courts, says US Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel

Also Watch: