The External Affairs Minister was speaking on the sidelines of the fourth ‘2+2’ Foreign and Defense Ministry talks with the US
The External Affairs Minister was speaking on the sidelines of the fourth ‘2+2’ Foreign and Defense Ministry talks with the US
discussion during Fourth ‘2+ 2’ dialogue between the Ministry of External Affairs and Defense External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Monday that working together with their US counterparts here has helped both countries to devise strategies to reduce the instability and unpredictability that the world is currently experiencing.
“It has helped us strategize to reduce the instability and unpredictability of the world today. This will naturally reflect in our policies,” Jaishankar told reporters while addressing a joint press conference with the defense minister. Rajnath Singhand his US counterparts Secretary of State Tony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
The fourth ‘2+ 2’ foreign and defense ministry dialogue, the first under the Biden administration, was held here on Monday.
The discussions have encouraged both countries to think together on long-term challenges, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region. “It has energized our cooperative efforts to emerge as a major bilateral relationship of our times,” he said.
Ukraine crisis
Responding to a question, Mr. Jaishankar said that India is pressuring End of hostilities in Ukraine, “I think part of what we’re doing is pushing for an cessation of hostilities, which I think everyone will agree will ease matters and obviously make the world less unpredictable.”
He said that India is working towards reducing global instability and unpredictability. “While we are also addressing the humanitarian situation, in fact, we have – Ukrainians are in contact with us – especially for the supply of medicines. We have already provided humanitarian relief to Ukraine to some neighbors. And the like. As we speak, a consignment of medicines is being delivered or will be delivered to Kyiv very soon,” he said.
“We’ve also discussed the economic consequences and we’re looking at it ourselves, but we’ve discussed it as partners,” he said.
The minister said that energy security, rising prices, rising premiums, limited supplies are a major concern of India and the world. “So today you have to understand that this is a legitimate concern for countries to ensure their energy security. But an equally big concern, which is emerging, is food security. There are concerns in the geographies of societies that are importing wheat or sugar or other foodstuffs out of the conflict zone”.
This issue also came up for discussion during the virtual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden, About what India can do to stabilize the global economic situation.
“We are quite willing and, in fact, we have already begun to respond to the need for more food supplies, especially wheat, most of all, but also, to a lesser extent, sugar. We also have several countries at this point in time. We are discussing with us the possibility of a greater food supply, including with the World Food Program.”
Mr Jaishankar said that the COVID-19 has left him with a lot of uncertainties and a lot of challenges to face. “I think part of it is how do you build a more reliable and resilient supply chain? How do you increase trust and transparency? How do we work together on important and emerging technologies like 5G? And then, we demonstrated Discussed an Indian initiative called Linked. Initiative, which will encourage manufacturing in India”.
The minister said that it is in the interest of America to support it.
“We also talked about how we can work together to help the global health situation. How do we get a shot in every arm? How can we increase the distribution of vaccines? And another issue, Again, what has added to the global uncertainty is Afghanistan. And how do you stabilize the region, how do you provide humanitarian aid again?” He told reporters.
He said, India is in the middle of providing 50,000 tonnes of wheat. “How do you deal with the terrorism concerns that the world has in the Security Council, in the FATF, et cetera. And I would say in a way that in terms of reducing and stabilizing it, the Quad is a great stabilizer in itself. So that It is also part of the contribution we are making to a better world, and making that contribution in a big way through partnerships with the United States,” Mr. Jaishankar said.