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WASHINGTON: US secretary of state Antony J Blinken on Monday kicked off the 2+2 dialogue, and said this was a “momentous moment in global affairs”, which will make the partnership with India “more consequential and vital”. He said that both the sides would discuss pressing global issues, including the Ukraine crisis, the quest for free, open, democratic and secure Indo-Pacific, Covid-19, counterterrorism.
External affairs minister S Jaishankar, who is attending the event along with Union defence minister Rajnath Singh, said the talks aimed at providing a more integrated approach to the partnership, and was increasingly relevant as the scope of cooperation between the two sides increased. “There is no domain in which we aren’t cooperating,” he added.
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Jaishankar also pointed to the parameters of progress – trade, investment, energy, education – to point to the deepening relationship in the bilateral domain. But he added that this had moved beyond the bilateral to have a visible impact on global issues, from maritime security to promoting critical technologies. “What India and the US do together will make a difference.” He also referred to the “elevation and intensification of Quad” in his remarks.
Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) is a strategic forum comprising USA, India, Australia and Japan, focusing on the Indo-Pacific region.
Singh termed the defence partnership one of the pillars of India-US strategic relations, recalled that the two countries had signed eight different defence agreements, and how despite the pandemic, military level engagements had continued.
Earlier in the day, Singh and Jaishankar met their American counterparts, secretary of defence Lloyd J Austin and Blinken for separate bilateral discussions with a major focus on the global strategic landscape. Austin, in particular, laid out the challenge from China in the Indo-Pacific, including to India, pledged American support in safeguarding Indian sovereignty and hailed the deepening of the defence cooperation between the two sides.
After welcoming Singh at Pentagon, Austin, said that they were meeting at a critical moment in the India-US defence partnership. “Thanks to decades of hard work, we have built the foundation of one of the most important partnerships of this century.” Austin said that the India-US partnership was based on a shared vision of a “free and open Indo-Pacific region, one grounded in principles such as the rule of law and national sovereignty”.
Austin told Singh that they were facing “urgent and mounting challenges to this shared vision”. “Across the region, the People’s Republic of China is attempting to challenge and undermine the sovereignty of its neighbours. Beijing is eroding the security of the Indo-Pacific region from its construction of dual-use infrastructure along your border to its unlawful claims in the South China Sea, and we will continue to stand alongside you as you defend your sovereign interest.”
Claiming that Beijing was not alone in its efforts to undermine the security of its neighbours and to change the status quo by force, Austin referred to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent “humanitarian devastation” as attempts to undermine the international order “grounded in the rules and the principles that we share”.
Austin said that India’s leadership, as well as the US-India defence partnership and collaboration with other partners, was “central to this rules-based order”. “We now coordinate alongside each other across the Indo-Pacific region and across domains, which is truly extraordinary, and we are committed to working seamlessly with you across new and emerging domains, including space and cyberspace.”
Singh, in his opening remarks at the bilateral meeting, thanked Austin and recalled how he had chosen India among his first overseas destinations last year. “This meeting and our coming 2+2 dialogue are indeed important landmarks in our bilateral relationship. I am sure that our visit here shall take India-US comprehensive strategic partnership to the next level.”
Separately, Jaishankar met Blinken for a breakfast meeting, and said in a tweet: “Wide-ranging exchange of views on the global situation, regional hotspots, and bilateral cooperation. Took place with the comfort and openness of true strategic partners.”
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