Looking forward to working with president-elect Kovind: US

State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said the US and India have a "deep and growing strategic partnership".

Washington, Jul 21: Congratulating president-elect Ram Nath Kovind on his electoral victory, the United States has said that it "looks forward" to working with him on regional and global issues.

Kovind, a low-key lawyer-turned-politician, was on Thursday elected as India's 14th President, the first BJP member and the second Dalit to occupy the country's highest office.

"We want to congratulate the president-elect Ram Nath Kovind on his victory," State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert told reporters on Thursday.

Noting that the US and India have a "deep and growing strategic partnership", she said: "We look forward to working with president-elect on regional and global issues."

Nauert credited the close people-to-people contact between the world's two largest democracies and "our shared democratic values" with the type of partnership they share.

A former Bihar governor, Kovind, 71, defeated the joint opposition candidate Meira Kumar, a former Lok Sabha speaker. The National Democratic Alliance nominee received an overwhelming majority of votes from the country's lawmakers.

Following the official announcement of the results, many other political leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Meira Kumar, Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath congratulated Kovind for winning the presidential elections and becoming the 14th President of India.

PTI