'It Was Nothing For Americans': US Envoy On No Mention Of Pak In India-US 2+2 Joint Statement

US Ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti, said that the issue of Pakistan was not of any concern to Americans.

In a first, Pakistan was not mentioned in the India-US 2+2 ministerial dialogue and when asked about the same, the US envoy to India said that the issue does not concern Americans at all. In a press briefing, answering a question about Pakistan and cross-border terrorism missing from the joint statement, Garcetti said: "I don't know the answer to that. But it wasn't certainly nothing for the Americans."

Notably, the joint statement discussed the Israel-Hamas war and both countries voiced support for the Jewish country and also shared views on the Ukraine war. The two nations also discussed "countering China's aggression".

The joint statement also focused on counterterrorism and declared support for Israel against terrorist attacks but without naming Hamas. According to TOI, for the first time since its inception, the 2+2 in its joint statement didn’t mention Pakistan.

He said India-US collaboration in emerging domains is important they also focus on the operational level of their militaries apart from weapons. 

"We made important steps toward strengthening our major defence partnership which continues to grow, increasing the acceleration that we've seen through initiatives like the roadmap of US-India in industrial cooperation and defence," Garcetti said, as quoted by ANI.

 "India-US collaboration and cooperation in emerging domains, and also more importantly, because we sometimes just focus on weapons and what's being sold, or potentially co-developed, but the operational level of our militaries, which I think is as critical as any equipment, and our countries discuss ways to deepen our science and our technology partnerships to harness technology with the global good instead of technology that harms us than divides us, technology that can connect us and protect us," he added.

Speaking on the joint statement after the 2+2 ministerial dialogue, the US ambassador said it reflects the resolve of both countries to promote resilient rules-based international order "to safeguard free open and inclusive Indo-Pacific through the QUAD and other metrics, global issues. "