Austin discussed only Indo Pacific and LAC with Rajnath Singh, Senator Menendez must be sulking in his Den
General Lloyd Austin the American Defence Minister is the first high profile Minister of Biden administration to visit India since the change of guard in Washington two months ago. India was the last leg of his visit to the Indo-Pacific region during which he visited Japan and South Korea as well.
During the meeting, Indian side mentioned cross border terror from Pakistan and the recent joint statement of Indian and Pakistani militaries on observance of Ceasefire pact of 2003. This was probably to convey to the Americans, that they must desist from playing a double game, especially in the context of Afghanistan talks. Last month saw India and Pakistan issue a rare joint statement after DGMO talks to cease hostilities at the Line of Control (LOC) in Jammu and Kashmir.
The ongoing situation in Afghanistan also came up during talks, with India reiterating that the peace and reconciliation efforts in the country should be Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled. USA must clearly not prop up Pakistan in this regard.
However all this must have left the American Senator Menendez sulking while sitting in the Senate building. He wanted General Austin to deliver a Sermon on the Mount to the Indians over S400 deal with Russia and also read “ the Riot Act “ over it, if the deal goes through. Menendez instead of worrying over the deteriorating democratic values in his own country also wanted that Austin should lecture the Indians, of all the things, over democracy. General Austin was wise enough not to press the S400 deal and must have seen and felt that democracy in India was much more vibrant and healthy than the USA.
During the press statements after the over one-hour-long meeting both sides also spoke on “free and open Indo Pacific”, a term increasingly in usage amid the Chinese aggressive actions in the region.The line of actual control standoff involving Chinese aggressive actions in Eastern Ladakh was discussed during the meeting of India’s defence minister Rajnath Singh and visiting US Defence Minister Lloyd Austin in Delhi.
India’s defence minister Rajnath Singh highlighted that both sides “discussed steps to be taken to realise full potential” of foundational agreements–LEMOA, COMCASA and BECA for mutual benefit and agreed that corresponding Indian military Commands will enhance cooperation with the US Indo-Pacific Command, Central Command and Africa Command.
US Defence Minister General Lloyd Austin pointed out, “As the world faces a global pandemic and growing challenges to an open and stable international system, the US-India relationship is a stronghold of a free and open Indo-Pacific region.”
LEMOA or Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement and COMCASA or the Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement are foundational agreements which Washington has signed with its close allies with an aim to increase military interoperability and transfer of equipment. Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) provides for sharing unclassified geospatial information. However USA needs to remember that India is a close friend but is not a military ally.
Austin also said at the press statement, “India… is an increasingly important partner amid today’s rapidly shifting international dynamics.”
Other areas which were mentioned and discussed during the talks include, information-sharing, logistics cooperation, artificial intelligence, and cooperation in new domains such as space and cyber, military to military cooperation.
