India-US 2+2 Dialogue: Union Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said defence was one of the most important pillars of India-US bilateral relationship and the partnership between the two nations was critical for ensuring a "free, open and rules-bound Indo-Pacific region". Speaking during the India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue in Delhi, Singh said the bilateral ties have seen a growing convergence of strategic interests and enhanced defence, security and intelligence cooperation.
"Defence remains one of the most important pillars of our bilateral relationship. Your visit to India is at a time when India and US are closer than ever before. In spite of various emerging geopolitical challenges, we need to keep our focus on important and long-term issues. We look forward to closely working with the US across the domains of capability and for partnerships which can address challenges," the Defence Minister said.
The 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue, which is aimed at taking forward the India-US strategic cooperation, was attended by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin. The Indian delegation at the talks was led by Singh and External Affairs Minister Jaishankar.
Singh's US counterpart Lloyd Austin highlighted that amid urgent global challenges, a reference to the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, it was more imporatnat than ever for the "world's two largest democracies" to exchange views and find common goals. Austin also underscored that India and the US were expanding their partnership to new domains like clean energy, artificial intelligence, and semiconductors.
"We've made impressive gains in building our major defence partnership over the past year... We're integrating our industrial bases, strengthening our interoperability, and sharing cutting-edge technology. The scope of our cooperation is vast, it stretches from the sea to space," the US Secretary of Defence said.
PM Modi's State Visit To US Opened New Chapter In Ties: Jaishankar
In his opening remarks, EAM Jaishankar said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's maiden state visit to the US had opened a "new chapter in India-US ties". "President Biden's visit to Delhi in September contributed immensely to the positive trajectory of our ties. His support was key to ensuring productive outcomes at the G20 summit," Jaishankar said.
He said both the nations were exploring domains such as critical technology, civil outer space collaboration and critical minerals even as he asserted that the key focus would be the Indo-Pacific region, which holds enormous strategic and economic importance. In fact, the region accounts for more than 65 per cent of global GDP.
"In the 2+2, we will undertake a comprehensive overview of cross-cutting strategic, defence, and security ties, technology and supply chain collaborations and people-to-people exchanges...Our trade is today in excess of USD 200 Billion... 2,70,000 Indian students study in the United States, and we have a diaspora of 4.4 million," Jaishankar said.
Ties Between India-US Strongest Ever: Antony Blinken
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken described the ties between India and US as the "strongest bilateral partnership ever".
"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," Blinken said in his opening remarks.
Highlighting efforts by the US in the Indo-Pacific region, Blinken said it was enhancing maritime domain awareness and sharing commercial satellite data with countries in the region to boost their capacity to tackle phishing, piracy, and drug trafficking.
"We are promoting a free and open, prosperous, secure and resilient Indo-Pacific, including by strengthening our partnership through the QUAD with Japan and Australia. We're also coordinating humanitarian relief and disaster response efforts in the Indo-Pacific," he said.