US Opts Not To Send Election Observers To India, Aims To Strengthen Bilateral Relations

The US is not sending any election observers to India but is eager to continue to deepen and strengthen its cooperation with partners in India, the State Department has said.

India is all set to choose its next leader as the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections 2024 will begin today. Amid this, the State Department stated that the United States will not be sending any election observers to India. However, it is eager to continue to deepen and strengthen its cooperation with partners in India.

The Deputy Spokesperson of the United States Department of State Vedant Patel on Thursday told news agency PTI during his daily news conference, "I'm not aware of the United States sending any observers. We generally don't, in the case of advanced democracies like in the case of India."

“We of course are eager to continue to deepen and strengthen our cooperation with our partners in India. And we're just going to let the election play out,” he added.

In response to a query, he expressed approval of the idea that world leaders, such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, could contribute to peace efforts in either the Russia-Ukraine conflict or the conflict in Gaza.

“In the context of Russia, Ukraine, if any country is interested in using its voice to further deter Russian aggression on the people of Ukraine, we certainly would welcome that,” he said.

“In the current ongoing context in Gaza, any country that believes that they can play a positive role in helping us get to a release of hostages, helping us get additional humanitarian assistance into Gaza, helping to defeat Hamas, they certainly should and are welcome to play that role,” Patel said. 

The 2024 Lok Sabha elections have kicked off today with voting slated to take place for 102 seats spread across 21 states and Union territories in the first of the seven phases of the world’s largest electoral exercise.