Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar hosted US Secretaries of State Antony J. Blinken and Defense Lloyd J. Austin III in New Delhi for the fifth India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue. The key focus was on the Indo-Pacific region, and developments in West Asia, Middle East, and Ukraine were also discussed.
The agenda Included advancing the bilateral strategic partnership by elevating defense ties, making progress in space and tech, future logistics cooperation and people to people contacts. According to Jaishankar, relations between the two countries have been on an upward trend ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi's June visit to the United States, and the September visit of US President Joe Biden to Delhi.
"Our trade is today in excess of 200 billion U.S. dollars; FDI is rising in both directions; 270,000 Indian students study in the United States; and we have a diaspora of 4.4 million. We are exploring domains such as critical technologies, civil outer space collaboration, and critical minerals, even while consolidating established domains," he said.
In the opening remarks, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh mentioned that the India-U.S. bilateral relationship has seen a growing convergence of strategic interests and an enhanced defense, security, and intelligence cooperation. "We look forward to closely working with the U.S. across the domains of defense for capability building and for an abiding partnership which can address emerging challenges," he added.
US State Secretary Blinken said, "We’re harnessing together the power of innovation to make our economies more resilient and to make our communities more secure, while expanding inclusive economic opportunity."
"That’s evident in the cooperation on semiconductors and advanced biotechnology; on our unprecedented investments in deploying clean energy at scale in our countries as well as across the region; and our joint research and exploration projects in space", he said.
He also mentioned that the countries are working together to improve international security, reduce travel time for students, and open up new avenues of academic collaboration.
US Defense Secretary Austin emphasized that it is important that the two largest democracies exchange views, find common goals and deliver. "We have made impressive gains in building our major defense partnership over the past year, and that will help keep us – help us contribute even more together to the cause of peace and stability. We are integrating our industrial bases, strengthening our interoperability, and sharing cutting-edge technology," he stated.
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