NEW DELHI, Nov 10: The India-US strategic partnership is characterised
by mutual trust and both sides are increasingly in agreement on key
issues, such as countering China’s aggression, promoting a free and
open Indo-Pacific and addressing regional security challenges, defence
minister Rajnath Singh said on Friday.
Singh made the remarks at a bilateral meeting with his American
counterpart, Lloyd Austin, that took place shortly after the conclusion
of the fifth edition of the India-US “2+2” ministerial dialogue.
The defence minister’s comments came amid the more-than-three-year
border row between India and China in eastern Ladakh as well as
concerns over the increasing forays by Chinese military ships into the
Indian Ocean region.
“The India-US defence relationship has evolved into a strategic
partnership characterised by mutual trust, shared values and a growing
recognition of common interests in maintaining regional and global
security,” Singh said in his opening comments at the bilateral talks.
“We increasingly find ourselves in agreement on strategic issues,
including countering China’s aggression, promoting a free and open
Indo-Pacific and addressing regional security challenges,” he added.
“We share a focus on maritime security in the Indo-Pacific region.
Recognising the criticality of safeguarding vital sea lanes and promoting
stability, our teams are working on substantive outcomes,” the defence
minister said.
He said India and the US are charting new pathways of cooperation by
pursuing stronger defence, industrial engagement, easing of technology
restrictions, boosting ties in the maritime domain and aiming to ensure
resilient supply chains in all domains.
At a media briefing after the talks, Austin said both sides talked about
the rising security challenges that are posed by China.
“We are working together on a number of things going forward. We
have a common goal, a common view of the Indo-Pacific, and that is
that the Indo-Pacific should remain free and open and that we should
be able to sail in the international seas and fly in the international
airspace,” he said.
At the same time, Austin said the US-India relationship is not just based
on China or the challenge that China presents.
“It is based upon, again, shared values…. We have talked about a
number of things to include not only military cooperation, but scientific
cooperation, space cooperation, and those kinds of things,” he said.
In a statement, the defence ministry said Singh and Austin
comprehensively discussed a wide range of defence and strategic
issues. “There was particular focus on enhancing defence industrial
cooperation and getting the defence industries from both sides
together to cooperatively co-develop and co-produce defence
systems,” it said.
The ministry said the two ministers explored ways and means to
advance defence technology cooperation with joint research in critical
areas. “They reviewed the progress of the India-US Defence Industrial
Ecosystem, INDUS-X, which was launched in June this year and aims to
expand the strategic technology partnership and defence industrial
cooperation between the governments, businesses and academic
institutions of India and the US,” it said.
Besides Austin, the US delegation at the “2+2” dialogue comprised
Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The Indian side was headed by
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Singh. (PTI)
