To Strengthen Indo-Pacific Ties, US Defense Secretary Austin Calls on Prime Minister Modi | India News

NEW DELHI: Ensuring security and stability in the critical Indo-Pacific region, with more bilateral and multilateral collaboration in the face of a belligerent China, is high on the agenda of India and the US. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin’s visit here this weekend.
With the Biden administration stating its clear intention to strengthen ‘alliances and partnerships’ in the Indo-Pacific to foster a ‘credible deterrence’ against China, Austin called on the prime minister Narendra modi and i met the national security advisor Ajit doval in the evening after landing in New Delhi at 4.40pm on Friday.

Modi, hailing the ‘warm and close’ ties between the two countries rooted in ‘shared values ​​of democracy, pluralism and commitment to a rules-based order’, outlined his vision for the bilateral strategic partnership during the meeting.

Austin, in turn, expressed the strong desire of the United States to further enhance the bilateral strategic partnership for peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.
The substantive meeting between the Minister of Defense Rajnath singh and Austin, who is on the third leg of his first overseas tour after visiting Japan and South Korea with the secretary of state. Antony blinken, it will be Saturday morning.

Austin, a retiree army General, will be briefed on India’s ongoing military confrontation with China in eastern Ladakh, which is in its 11th month, the officials said.
India and China undertook troop withdrawals on both sides of Pangong Tso last month, but stagnation persists in the Gogra, Hot Springs, Demchok and Depsang plains, and the general de-escalation and induction of troops in the region of high altitude are not yet anywhere. on the horizon.
With India, the US, Japan and Australia voicing their position against any “coercion” in the Indo-Pacific during their leaders’ Quad summit on March 12, their navies will join France for their exercise “La Pérouse” in the Bay of Bengal from April. 4-7, as previously reported TOI.
Expansive defense cooperation, of course, is the cornerstone of the strategic relationship between India and the United States. While no new arms pact or contract will be signed, officials say the delegation-level meeting between Singh and Austin will also focus on greater cooperation in intelligence sharing, counter-terrorism and dominance awareness. maritime, an official said.
Having secured lucrative Indian arms deals worth more than $ 21 billion since 2007, the United States obviously wants more. India’s proposed $ 1.8 billion acquisition of six more P-8I long-range maritime patrol aircraft, to add to the 12 such aircraft already contracted previously for $ 3.2 billion, is one such deal in the final stages now.
With two leased MQ-9B Sea Guardian drones already being used for surveillance missions in the indian ocean Since last November, India has also finalized its plan to buy 30 US “hunter-killer” armed drones for more than $ 3 billion, as TOI first reported.
At Saturday’s meeting, India will also reiterate its case in favor of an exemption from the US law called CAATSA (Act Against America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions), which was enacted in 2017 to prevent countries from buying Russian weapons or Iranian oil. .
This has become crucial because India will start installing advanced S-400 Triumf surface-to-air missile systems, under the $ 5.43 billion (Rs 40,000 crore) contract signed with Russia in 2018, from October onwards.
The Modi government has already communicated to the US that the acquisition of the S-400 is an “urgent national security requirement” for India. The five S-400 mobile squadrons will be progressively delivered to India by 2023. Incidentally, the United States has imposed financial sanctions on China and Turkey for installing Russia’s S-400 systems.