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WASHINGTON: Vice President Mike Pence has said he is planning to visit India soon and asserted that the Indo-US partnership has never looked brighter with the best days for the two nations yet to come.

Describing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with US President Donald Trump as "historic and productive", Pence said, "Today I say with confidence that our friendship would grow and deepen."

Addressing the top business executives of the United States, Pence appeared to be very enthusiastic about the future of the ties between the US and India, which he said can work together for the development, peace and prosperity of the two countries and the world.

Pence was addressing the 42nd annual gala of the US- India Business Council (USIBC), the top industry advocacy body of American businesses having a footprint in India.

Recollecting Trump's remarks at the Rose Garden in White House yesterday, Pence said, "India has a true friend at the White House" and so do all the businesses that have gathered at the event.

"This is an exciting time between the US and India. As President Trump said, the future of our partnership has never looked brighter," Pence said yesterday.

Pence also had a one-on-one meeting with Modi at the White House on Monday.

Pence, who had earlier been the governor of Indiana, told the business executives that Modi told him that "India-Ana means coming to India", with the comment drawing a laud applause from the audience.

Pence said he has accepted the prime minister's invitation to visit India.

"I was very humbled when the Prime Minister Modi extended a personal invitation to me to represent the United States. And we're already making plans to take it up on his invitation," Pence said.

When he was the governor of Indiana, Pence said, he had plans to take a business delegation to India, which he could not do because of the last year's general elections.

But now, he said he was hoping to visit India soon.

"The bottom line is that the United States and India can deepen our commercial bond in many industries and areas," he said.

Pence said the US' relationship with India is one of the most important strategic relationships in the 21st century.

"Our two great nations are bound by friendship, by commerce, as partners in the fight against terrorism, and as brother-and-sister in the cause of freedom and our commitment to democracy -- and today, I say with confidence - under the leadership of President Donald Trump, our friendship will grow deeper and our partnership will grow stronger -- for the benefit of both our nations, and all our people," Pence said.

With Trump taking so many steps to improve the business climate in the US, Pence said the truth is that these actions will give Indian companies record opportunities to invest in America.

"I am confident -- that with your help, and with the commitment that President Trump and Prime Minister Modi renewed yesterday -- we will usher in a new era of jobs, opportunity, and prosperity -- for both our countries, and for all our people," Pence said.

He also praised several Indian companies for creating tens and thousands of jobs in America. Pence mentioned several Indian companies including Wipro, Infosys and Spicejet.

"Thanks to the companies represented in this room, the trade relationship between the United States and India is flourishing. It's remarkable to think that not even 20 years ago, two-way trade between our nations was less than USD 20 billion per year. But by the end of last year, it had grown by more than 500 per cent to an annual USD 115 billion," he said.

"On the other side of the ledger, Indian businesses I'm glad to report are investing in America at an unprecedented rate. For instance: Earlier this year, Infosys announced it would hire 10,000 new American workers at four US-based technology centers, one of which will be in my home state of Indiana. And we thank you for investing and believing in America," Pence said.

"Our heartfelt appreciation to all the businesses represented here for your investment in our nation's future. Yet the truth is the United States and India we believe have only scratched the surface when it comes to bilateral investment and trade," he said.

"Yesterday, President Trump and Prime Minister Modi committed to expanding and balancing our trade relationship in the years ahead," the vice president said.

India is projected to become the world's third-largest market for planes and passengers, he noted.

"American companies are already providing airport infrastructure and the airplanes themselves. I just had the chance to meet with the CEO of SpiceJet who just last week placed an order for 40 brand new Boeing jets, on top of 100 new jets it ordered earlier this year," he said.

"I know that American companies are going to continue to give India's aviation industry the wings it needs to soar. And let me just take the opportunity, as the President did yesterday, to say thank you to SpiceJet for investing and believing in American workers and American businesses," Pence said.

Energy, he said, was another area for a more robust partnership.

"India boasts the world's fastest-growing economy. But it can't continue without energy, and American producers and grid developers are the best-suited to provide it. From liquefied natural gas, to nuclear power, to clean coal, to everything in between, American energy and American expertise can help power India's future," he said.

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President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump and several Cabinet members attended the Saturday night wedding of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Scottish actress Louise Linton.

Vice President Mike Pence officiated the ceremony, which took place at Washington's Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium, a historic venue located near the National Mall. Second lady Karen Pence was also in attendance.

Melania Trump wore a Gilles Mendel silk chiffon gown with Manolo Blahnik pumps, according to the first lady's office.

About 300 guests reportedly attended the wedding.

Aside from the Trumps and Pences, guests included White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer and his wife Rebecca Miller, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson and Secretary of Veteran Affairs David Shulkin.

It's the second marriage for Linton, 36, and the third marriage for Mnuchin, 54.

Linton has appeared in the TV shows "CSI: NY" and "Cold Case," as well as the film "Cabin Fever."

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Trumps attend Steve Mnuchin's wedding, officiated by Mike Pence - ABC News

By: Express Web Desk | New Delhi | Updated: June 28, 2017 11:04 am US Vice-President Mike Pence was a former governor of Indiana state. (Source: AP)

At a business summit in the US, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for Netherlands, Vice-President Mike Pence told the gathering that he has been invited to visit India. Speaking at the US-India Business Councils 42nd Annual Leadership Summit, Pence said he shared a light moment with the prime minister when the later said India ana (come visit India).

In fact, I told him when I was governor of Indiana, one of my ambitions was to be the first governor from Indiana to visit India, Pence was quoted as saying by Politico. I didnt get it done then, but the Prime Minister and I had a nice chuckle, because he told me that the words India ana mean coming to India.

Pence went on to praise PM Modis move to simplify Indias tax structure by introducing the Goods and Services Tax (GST). He, however, said the country needs to do more to create the fair and reciprocal trade relationship. We truly believe, with great respect, that the time to act is now, Pence added. He hailed the meeting between President Donald Trump and PM Modi as historic and productive.

President Trump recognizes that the United States relationship with India is one of the most important strategic relationships in the 21st century, he said.

Pence pointed to fast-expanding US defense sales to India and added: The United States will continue to enable the Indian armed forces to obtain the resources and technology it needs to protect the Indian people and support security in the region.

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'India ana': How PM Modi invited former Indiana governor Mike Pence to visit India - The Indian Express

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's failure to ram through an Obamacare repeal bill before the July 4 recess does more than reveal tribal divisions ravaging the Republican Party.

It also highlights President Donald Trump's role -- or lack of one -- in forging a GOP majority to squeeze the bill through the Senate, on an issue that has grave implications for the fate of the rest of his presidency.

Almost as soon as McConnell shelved a bid to vote on the measure this week, senators piled into a blue Capitol Police bus to head down to the White House for a brainstorming session with Trump.

The contrast was obvious to the euphoric Rose Garden rally that Trump hosted with GOP House members after they passed their Obamacare repeal bill in May. This time, Republicans sat around tables in the East Room expressing frustration at negative ads being aired against moderate Sen. Dean Heller, who has opposed the bill.

The delay in the Senate vote represents a failure -- that could yet be temporary -- by the GOP that has a monopoly on power in Washington yet can't yet honor the fundamental promise it has made to its voters for years.

But in this Washington cloud, there could be a silver lining for Trump.

A significant effort to reshape argument on the bill, to breach deep party divides on the issue and to sell a vision of health care reforms to Americans, could do a lot of good to a presidency that has been under siege for months.

It would also suggest that the President has a decent chance of building support for the rest of his agenda, that includes a push for tax reform and a program to repair the nation's decaying infrastructure.

But early signs are not encouraging for those who hope that the President can mine a golden seam of political support to get the bill passed.

Before grim faced senators, the President spoke in vague terms about the bill, showing the lack of specificity that has hampered his attempts to wield political influence on Capitol Hill.

"We are going to try and solve the problem. So, I invited all of you. ... We are going to talk. We are going to see what we are going to do," Trump told the group, before offering an assessment that did not seem to reflect the aggravated state of Republican debate over the bill or address the specific concerns many senators have with the bill.

"We are getting very close," he said. "This will be great if we get it done," he said, before asking reporters to leave the room.

By now, everyone knows in Washington that the President is not keen on thrashing through the details of a bill to try to win wavering votes.

In fact, he's often seemed ready to embrace any measure that he could portray as a political win -- whatever it contains.

There's certainly no sense that he is driving the debate towards an outcome that would fit into any ideological vision of his presidency. More often, he's shown more appetite to simply slam Obamacare than offer solutions.

Even Trump's supporters would admit that the President is yet to impose his considerable persona on Washington or shown he has the political skills and stock of capital to pilot legislation through Congress.

His consistency is also in question, since he labeled the House health care bill "mean," hanging members out to dry after celebrating its passage with them.

"Here's what I would tell any senator: If you're counting on the President to have your back, you need to watch it," GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham said Monday.

"This President is the first president in our history who has had neither political nor military experience," Maine Sen. Susan Collins told reporters on Capitol Hill Monday.

That impression will have to change if the President is to play on the loyalty of Republican senators who are against the bill, who McConnell said used their White House meeting, to explain their reservations to Trump.

Trump is the most unorthodox President in memory, and has broken many political norms. But if he is to amass a significant legislative legacy, he may have to put more political skin of his own in the game.

"He would knock peoples' socks off if he came forward with a venture of his own proposing," said Bruce Buchanan, a presidential historian at the University of Texas at Austin, who doubts Trump has such a play "in his playbook."

The next few weeks, as McConnell and Trump seek to unpick the GOP deadlock over the Senate proposal, pose a stern test for the President.

He must calm moderate senators scared about the consequences of voting for a measure the Congressional Budget Office says will lead to 22 million more people without coverage over the next decade.

Senate Republicans are also split on issues like cuts to the Medicaid expansion under Obamacare, the prospect of rising premiums for low income and working class Americans, and fears that opioid addicts could lose vital treatment.

Bringing Republicans together will test the clout of a president whose approval rating has dipped below 40% and has little support outside his, albeit solid, base. It will also reveal just how much loyalty Republican senators feel towards a President who has often departed from the orthodoxies of his own party.

Trump's stock on Capitol Hill may have taken a dent after a group that supports him, America First Policies, started airing ads against Heller in Nevada.

At the White House Tuesday, Heller and other senators complained, calling for party unity. Heller, a source said, brought the issue up first, while joking that he was disappointed that they used Matt Damon's face instead of his in the ad.

Trump may also need to up his persuasion game because though he's been speaking to holdout senators it's not clear he has changed many minds.

Utah Sen Mike Lee, a conservative who opposes the bill because he believes it does not do enough to strip down Obamacare, spoke to Trump by phone on Monday.

An aide said the tone of the call was "positive" but was also at a "high level" with no sign Trump addressed specific policy details.

McConnell said Tuesday that the President had been helpful and engaged. But he also appeared to hint that Trump would have to do more.

"We always anticipated the president would be very important in getting us to a conclusion. After all, under our system, he's the man with the signature," he said, adding that for Trump to show his cards earlier would have been a waste of time.

But Trump's time is now.

"There have been presidents that have been able to break through and Senate Majority leaders that have been able to put together a coalition," said Julian Zelizer, a CNN political analyst.

"(But) McConnell has been dealing with a President who has not been totally invested in this fight and is not selling to Americans what the idea is, behind the change other than people are going to lose many benefits."

CNN's MJ Lee, Lauren Fox and Jim Acosta contributed to this report.

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Donald Trump has a chance to step up for a signature win - CNN

Paul Manafort, the onetime manager of the Trump presidential campaign, retroactively reported that his consulting firm had received more than $17 million in payments from a Ukrainian political party with ties to the Kremlin.

And in this weeks magazine, a Nixon biographer makes the case that President Trump has essentially misunderstood the F.B.I.s role. Since Watergate, the agency has come to view itself as an independent check on the president.

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Syrian and Russian officials rejected an American accusation that Syria was preparing for another chemical attack. Above, President Bashar al-Assad visiting troops at a Russian air base in western Syria.

President Trump conferred by phone with President Emmanuel Macron of France on finding a common response should the attack take place. Mr. Macron seized the opportunity to invite Mr. Trump to Paris for Bastille Day next month.

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Googles record 2.4 billion euro fine for violating European antitrust rules highlights the aggressive stance E.U. officials have taken in regulating many of the worlds largest technology companies.

Googles legal battle with the E.U. is far from over, but for now the focus will probably shift to changes the company will have to make to comply with the decision. Google is facing two separate antitrust charges related to Android, its mobile software.

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Its picnic season, and we have tips on how to make yours a success. (Two simple ones, often forgotten: Bring trash bags and enough water.)

Making a get-together a potluck, and moving it outside, instantly ensure things are more affordable and communal. Our food writer tagged along with a family that has perfected the art of the picnic in the park.

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Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and Wilbur Ross, the American commerce secretary, said they wanted to revive talks on a trans-Atlantic free trade deal.

Li Keqiang, Chinas premier, affirmed his countrys desire to be seen as the worlds new leader in free trade, in a speech at a World Economic Forum conference in Dalian, China.

Nestl said it was prepared to spend billions of dollars on stock buybacks and acquisitions. Heres a short history of the Swiss conglomerate, which sells more than 2,000 brands around the world.

Heres a snapshot of global markets.

Rogue police forces in Venezuela attacked the Supreme Court, dropping grenades from a helicopter, officials said. [The New York Times]

Few details have emerged in the car bombing in Kiev yesterday that killed a colonel in Ukraines military intelligence. [Kyiv Post]

The issue of same-sex marriage moved to the center of Germanys national election campaign. Martin Schulz, the left-wing candidate, demanded a parliamentary vote this week. [The New York Times]

Meanwhile, the Chaos Computer Club, a Hamburg collective, is working on hacker-proofing the German election in the fall. [Bloomberg Businessweek]

A court in the Netherlands ruled that the Dutch government was partly liable for the massacre of about 350 Muslim men in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica in 1995. [The New York Times]

Nicola Sturgeon, Scotlands first minister, postponed plans for a second independence referendum after her partys setback in Britains general election. [The Scotsman]

In Britain, the authorities identified more buildings with flammable facades, or cladding, similar to what was used on the London highrise that caught fire this month. The authorities in Germany evacuated a building with similar cladding. [The New York Times]

Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life.

What prospective university students do online could have consequences in real life.

Ransomware is in the news. Heres how to protect yourself.

Recipe of the day: Somali-style rice, flavored by rich stock and an aromatic spice mixture.

Our photographer visited the charred countryside of Portugal, where survivors of the countrys worst wildfire in decades confronted anger and grief.

FIFA published an investigators top-secret report into the bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, which was widely reported to have been tainted by corruption.

Our Interpreter columnist explains why right-wing populism has not upended politics in Canada. (Theres no mention of Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus footwear, but our fashion team explored his sock diplomacy.)

In memoriam: Michael Nyqvist, the Swedish actor perhaps best known for the Dragon Tattoo trilogy, died at 56. And Alain Senderens, a founding father of nouvelle cuisine, died at 77.

Today is the 48th anniversary of the riots at the Stonewall Inn in New York City, a watershed moment in L.G.B.T. history.

The protests against a police raid helped galvanize the movement for gay rights. Former President Barack Obama made the bar an official U.S. monument last year, but Stonewall was already famous around the globe.

The name has come to be synonymous with gay pride. Among those invoking it: The Stonewall Hotel in Sydney, Australia, which is not actually a hotel, but a three-floor bar and club.

Theres also Stonewall in Britain, a charity that fights for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals. Stonewall Japan says it has 2,000 members. Stonewall Javeriano, a student group in Colombia, has attracted attention outside the country for its existence at a Catholic university.

In the U.S., Stonewall is the name of a museum and archive in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., because the riots gave visibility to a community that had previously faced a life in the shadows, its executive director said.

And to make sure future generations learn its history, theres a new effort to record the oral histories of those who took part in the 1969 uprising, announced this month, with funding from Google.org.

Karen Zraick contributed reporting.

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This briefing was prepared for the European morning. We also have briefings timed for the Australian, Asian and American mornings. You can sign up for these and other Times newsletters here.

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