Team Blitz India
NEW DELHI: India and the US on November 10 held talks to expand their global strategic partnership by shoring up engagement in areas of defence production, critical minerals and high-technology.
The US delegation at the ‘2+2’ ministerial dialogue was led by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin while External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh headed the Indian side.
“The Ministers noted the substantial progress in transforming U.S.-India relations across domains, based on trust and mutual understanding.
Building upon the June 2023 and September 2023 visits of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and President Joseph Biden, the Ministers reaffirmed the importance of the U.S.-India Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership in ensuring international peace and security.
The Ministers also underlined their strong commitment to safeguarding a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific through mechanisms like the Quad,” said the joint statement released on the occasion of the Fifth Annual U.S.- India 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue.
“The Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to further deepen the multifaceted defence partnership through wide-ranging dialogues and military exercises of increasing complexity and sophistication, accelerated joint projects initiated under the June 2023 Roadmap for U.S.-India Defence Industrial Cooperation and expanded collaboration in emerging domains, such as space and artificial intelligence,” it said.
“The Ministers discussed developments in the Indo-Pacific, Middle East, Ukraine among other regions. The ministers expressed mutual deep concern over the war in Ukraine and its tragic humanitarian consequences”, the statement said.
“Noting horrific terrorist attacks against Israel, the Ministers reiterated that the United States and India stand with Israel against terrorism and called for adherence to international humanitarian law, including with regard to the protection of civilians.
They called for the immediate release of all remaining hostages,” it added. PM Modi has said that the India-US 2 plus 2 Ministerial Dialogue is a key enabler for further strengthening the Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership between the two countries.
Prime Minister had a meeting with Austin and Blinken.
