John Kerry says US `excited` about India`s new PM Modi

New Delhi: 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.