HENRY Kissinger, known for his disdain for India’s leadership in the 1970s, has died at the age of 100, but the well-known American statesman and former Secretary of State has been advocating stronger US-India ties for the last one decade under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Considered the architect of the US-China relationship since the early 70s, Kissinger died at his home in Connecticut on Wednesday. His consulting firm, Kissinger Associates, did not provide a cause of his death. After Modi became the Prime Minister of India in 2014, Kissinger, also the former US National Security Advisor, has been advocating strong ties with India. In fact, many say, over the past few years, he has become a great fan of Prime Minister Modi.

 

When Modi was here on an Official State Visit in June this year, Kissinger despite not keeping good health, travelled to Washington to listen to Modi’s address at the luncheon at the State Department jointly hosted by Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Kissinger was brought in a wheelchair to the historic Benjamin Franklin Room on the seventh floor of the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department. He was greeted at the elevator by US Ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti.

 

During the luncheon, the elderly American statesman, whose influence on American national security and foreign policy is seen as immense, patiently listened to the speech of the Prime Minister and had an interaction with him. In recent years, Kissinger made his views known to the public on India when he made a fireside appearance in June 2018 along with John Chambers of the US India Strategic and Partnership Forum (USISPF) on the occasion of the organisation’s first anniversary. The fireside chat was closed to the press, but those who attended it recollect how strongly he batted for the India-US relationship.