EAM S Jaishankar with US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon. (Twitter@DrSJaishankar)
Washington: US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin welcomed India’s External Affairs Minister, Dr. S Jaishankar at Pentagon in an enhanced honour cordon ceremony.
In a video clip posted by the news agency ANI, Lloyd Austin is shown welcoming Jaishankar and hosting an honour cordon as he arrives at the Pentagon, the headquarters of the US defence department.
During bilateral talks with Jaishankar at the Pentagon, Austin harshly criticised China for “unprecedented provocations in the Taiwan Strait” and stated that India and the US, the two great democracies, are working together to create a brighter future for the Indo-Pacific as the world faces ongoing challenges to peace, security, and prosperity in the region and beyond.
“Our bilateral defence ties are just one way that our two great democracies are working together toward a brighter future for the Indo-Pacific. The United States and India, along with a dozen other Indo-Pacific partners, pushing to expand our region’s prosperity for the Indo-Pacific Economic framework,” Austin said during his opening remarks, as reported by ANI.
Responding to Austin’s remarks, Jaishankar said that the India-US defence cooperation’s “ripple impact” has a “larger benefit meaning.” The peace, security, and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region should be guaranteed, he said, adding that collaboration between the two nations is one of the greatest ways to achieve this.
“The ripple impact of our defence cooperation, I think, has a larger beneficiary implication. So, for me, our meeting today and my presence here today I do share with you that the global situation today has become far more challenging for a variety of reasons.”
Indo-Pacific in particular, it’s important that the stability, security and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific should be secured, which is best done amongst others by cooperation between our two countries, asserted Jaishankar.
According to ANI, while giving assurance to Jaishankar for US commitment, Austin said “But they only reaffirm the importance of our partnership. So as a minister, I’m grateful for your friendship. And we work together toward our shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific. And I look forward to a great discussion.”
During his opening remark in Washington, the Pentagon chief also mentioned his recent phone call with, the Indian defence minister, Rajnath Singh, and stated that the defence relationship between the two countries is going strong and strength to strength.
“I’m delighted to host you at the Pentagon today, especially following my recent call with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. These conversations reinforce a growing threat and ambition of our partnership. And that partnership is moving from strength to strength. Today, we are positioning the US and Indian militaries to operate and coordinate more closely together than ever,” he said.
In a telephone call with Austin, Rajnath Singh shared India’s concern about the American support package for Pakistan’s F-16 fleet while also discussing the two leaders’ expanding strategic cooperation and convergence of interests.
With inputs from agencies
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