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India is a vital American partner in the Asia-Pacific region, with Washington competing with Beijing, and Austin’s two-day visit to New Delhi is the Indian government’s first direct meeting with the administration of US President Joe Biden.
The meeting takes place the day after difficult talks between the United States and China in Alaska and visits by Austin and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Japan and South Korea, two other important partners.
Last week the first meeting of the so-called Quad took place, with the United States, Australia, Japan and India as a counterweight to China.
In early April, the navies of the four countries, joined by France, will conduct a joint exercise in the Bay of Bengal.
“Common objectives”
Austin told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that “he is satisfied with India’s leadership in the India-Pacific region and the increasing collaboration with like-minded partners throughout the region to pursue common goals,” said John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman.
Furthermore, without directly mentioning China, Modi wrote on Twitter that “India and the United States are committed to a mutual strategic partnership, a global force for good.”
Washington wants its partners in the region to deepen cooperation by joining a “network of overlapping relationships” in which the United States does not necessarily have to play a key role, said a senior US official.
To that end, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and his Australian counterpart Marisa Payne will hold separate meetings with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and Indonesian Chief of Diplomats Retno. Marsudi, in New Delhi in mid-April, The Hindustan Times reported.
After a meeting with Austin, Indian Defense Secretary Rajnath Singh said he had agreed “to seek closer cooperation with US forces in the Pacific Command, the Central Command and the Command in Africa.”
The minister told reporters that New Delhi aims to “make India-US relations one of the most important partnerships of the 21st century.”
Austin called India “the pillar of the US approach to the region,” welcoming the “common values and similar strategic interests” of the two countries.
Thorny relationship
Austin plans to meet Jaishankar a little later.
According to the Pentagon leader, he will raise the issue of human rights in India in the talks, which, according to the Biden administration, is an important part of its foreign and defense policy.
Historic relations between the United States and India have historically been thorny, but China’s growing perseverance has brought the countries under Modi and former US President Donald Trump closer together.
Tensions between India and China escalated after 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers were killed in a clash on the disputed part of the border in the Himalayan region last June.
The nuclear-armed Asian giants later sent thousands of additional troops to the border, though tensions eased somewhat as they withdrew from a disputed border area.
Beijing has enraged New Delhi by supporting rival Pakistan and investing in Indian Ocean states that India considers its “territory.”
India and China are also engaging in “vaccine wars,” rushing to supply other countries with a coronavirus vaccine to gain favor and influence.
Advocacy Lead Partner
In 2016, the United States named India as an “important defense partner,” and the parties have since signed a series of agreements to facilitate the transfer of advanced weapons and deepen military cooperation.
American defense companies have made billions in deals for the supply of military equipment, including helicopters, and India makes $ 250 billion. US $ 500 Armed Forces Modernization Program.
Still, Russia is India’s largest arms supplier, and New Delhi agreed in 2018 $ 5.4 billion. However, the purchase of the S-400 missile defense system in US dollars could increase US sanctions, as happened with Turkey.
“The S-400 system is not yet available. So <...> the issue of sanctions was not discussed, “Austin told reporters.
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