Two months after the QUAD Summit which had PM Modi, President Biden and more, NSA Ajit Doval met US Secretary of State and had discussions pertaining to US-India diplomatic ties. The meeting comes a month after US Defence Secretary paid India a visit and discussed the bilateral defence ties. With China’s dominance over the Pacific region and the recent insurgency of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the meeting can prove a benchmark which strengthens US-India ties.

Contents hide
1. Details
2. “US-India Partnership Will Shape 21st Century”
3. Blinken Meets External Affairs Minister
4. Conversations Around Afghanistan Situation
5. India-US Wants Peaceful Afghanistan
6. India, US Democracies “Work in Progress”

Details

Amid the political three-dimensional chessboard, the world has become, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and had discussions pertaining to geopolitical and bilateral relations between the two countries. The two parties met and reportedly, discussed on how they could take their relationship “to the next level”.

It was also learnt that the two parties discussed on issues pertaining to the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan, the China’s ever-evolving domination on the Indo-Pacific region. According to Press Trust of India, the meeting between the two security heads of India and US went on for around one hour.

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“US-India Partnership Will Shape 21st Century”

According to reports, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed that India’s and US’ actions will shape the 21st century and the period beyond that. The diplomat also claimed that the strong partnership between the two sides can be attributed to policy priorities by Washington DC.

Blinken Meets External Affairs Minister

Mr. Blinken also had extensive discussions with External Affairs Minister Mr. S. Jaishankar. Mr. Blinken also added that US and India are leading democracies where “diversity fuels our national strength”. He also reiterated on the importance of US and India’s relationship and claimed how there are only a few relationships in the world more important than these two countries.

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Conversations Around Afghanistan Situation

Arguably, the most important and significant conversation Jaishankar and Blinken had was about the evolving security threat in Afghanistan where the Taliban has continued tightening its noose by controlling more provinces and borders. The two sides discussed about the COVID-19 response and how to enhance the same as well.

After the meeting, Mr. Jaishankar claimed that the meeting with US Secretary comes at a time when regional challenges are required to be met with effective measures. He also added that the partnership between the two sides have come to a point where both the sides can meet on the same page to discuss larger issues.

Mr. Jaishankar also took to Twitter and tweeted, “A wide ranging and productive discussion today with @SecBlinken. Useful in mapping out the next steps in our bilateral partnership. Strong convergence of views on many regional concerns. Agreed to work closely on multilateral and global issues.”

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India-US Wants Peaceful Afghanistan

Regarding the security conflict in Afghanistan, Secretary Blinken claimed that both the sides are interested in having a Afghanistan that is peaceful and stable. He also added that the two countries are committed to finding a resolution where no military is used as a solution which may add to further conflict in Afghanistan.

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India, US Democracies “Work in Progress”

Mr. Blinken also added that the two democracies are still “work in progress” and added-

“As friends we talk because doing hard work of strengthening democracy is often challenging.”

“At a time of rising global threats to democracy and international freedoms – we talk about a democratic recession — it’s vital that we two world leading democracies continue to stand together in support of these ideals.”