External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh will visit the United States for a “2+2” dialogue with the US Secretary of State. Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on April 11 in Washington DC, the State Department announced Thursday. This meeting will take place a few days after US Deputy National Security Advisor Dalip Singh told the Indian side “result” To continue Energy trading in local currency with Russia Against the backdrop of Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine.
“The dialogue will enable the two sides to comprehensively review cross-cutting issues in the India-US bilateral agenda relating to foreign policy, defense and security with a view to providing strategic guidance and vision to further strengthen ties,” the Ministry of External Affairs said. Affairs (MEA) said while announcing the travel.
The US State Department’s announcement emphasized the role of democratic values and expanded defense partnerships between the two sides, covering areas such as cyber security and public health, and said, “The relationships between the world’s largest democracies are built on a foundation of common The shared Indo-Pacific interests of values and resilient democratic institutions, and a rules-based international order that protects sovereignty and territorial integrity, upholds human rights and promotes regional and global peace and prosperity.”
Welcoming Mr. Rajnath Singh and Dr. Jaishankar to the United States, Secretary-General of Defense Austin said that the upcoming meeting will see the two sides discuss defense cooperation for a “free and open Indo-Pacific region”.
Eli Ratner, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, said India and the US continue to “integrate and conduct” cooperation in areas such as space and cyber security.
The upcoming meeting between the two ministers will be held in the backdrop of a series of comments by the United States about India’s continued neutrality in opposition to the Russian military operation against Ukraine. On March 22, US President Joe Biden observed that India’s response to Russia has been “Unstable” Compared to other members of the Indo-Pacific Quad Grouping where the other three members – Australia, Japan and the United States – imposed layers of sanctions on Russia shortly after the start of its military operation in Ukraine.
This was followed by the visit of Mr. Dalip Singh, who cautioned that there would be “consequences” if India trades with Russia on the basis of rupee-ruble transactions. The remarks, however, had no bearing on the Indian position, as expressed by the External Affairs Minister in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, when he insisted that India was in favor of “stabilizing” transactions with Russia. The exchanges continued in the backdrop of Dr. Jaishankar’s remarks in the Lok Sabha, with President Biden’s top economic adviser Brian Deez warning of “important and long-term consequences” if India continues its current policy of buying energy from Russia despite Western countries. Keep moving forward. Later restrictions.
Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, Arindam Bagchi, however, did not specify what kind of outcome the US side discussed with Indian diplomats, drawing attention to Dr Jaishankar’s remarks in the Lok Sabha, where the minister pointed out that the Indian government’s The policy should not be subject to “political color” in relation to the purchase of energy from Russia.