US Defence Minister Meets India’s External Affairs Minister to discuss Bilateral Cooperation
They also discussed new opportunities for bilateral Defence industrial cooperation in support of India’s contributions as a regional security provider
US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar held a meeting on Monday discussing a situation regarding Ukraine as well as possible developments of bilateral cooperation between Washington and New Delhi in the military industrial sphere, the US Department of Defence said in a statement.
“Secretary Austin and Minister Jaishankar exchanged perspectives on a range of issues of shared interest, spanning recent developments in East Asia, the Indian Ocean Region, and the global reverberations of the Ukraine crisis,” Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said in the statement.
“Against this backdrop, the two leaders reviewed priority lines of effort to deepen bilateral Defence cooperation, as the United States and India progress toward a more advanced stage in their partnership,” Ryder stated. “Secretary Austin and Minister Jaishankar committed to expanding information-sharing and logistics cooperation to drive deeper operational coordination between the US and Indian militaries.”
“They also discussed new opportunities for bilateral Defence industrial cooperation in support of India’s contributions as a regional security provider, including the launch of a new Defence dialogue later this year as the United States and India work more closely together across space, cyber, artificial intelligence, and other technology areas,” the statement reads.
“The two leaders underscored the value of the deepening collaboration between the United States, India, Australia, Japan, and European partners,” according to the statement. “Secretary Austin and Minister Jaishankar reaffirmed their commitment to working together as steadfast partners to advance the United States and India’s shared vision for a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific.”
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a special military operation following a request for help from the leaders of the Donbass republics. He stressed that Moscow’s plans did not include an occupation of Ukrainian territories, its goals being the demilitarization and denazification of the country. In response, the West began to gradually introduce sweeping sanctions against Moscow and to supply weapons and military equipment to Kiev estimated at billions of dollars.
