Rajnath Singh leaves for US visit to strengthen India-US strategic partnership
Highlight
- Rajnath Singh on US visit to strengthen bilateral ties
- He will be in the US from April 10-15 for the 4th India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue in Washington DC
- Rajnath said that this visit to America will give him an opportunity to interact with the American leadership
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said on Friday (April 8) that he will leave from New Delhi to visit the United States from April 10-15 for the 4th India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue in Washington DC. Rajnath said his visit to the US would give him an opportunity to hold talks with the US leadership on ways to deepen the India-US strategic partnership.
“I will be leaving New Delhi tonight to visit the United States from April 10th to April 15th. I look forward to attending the 4th India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue in Washington DC. Also, I am at INDOPACOM Headquarters. Will visit Hawaii, during this visit,” the Defense Minister said in a tweet.
“The visit to the United States will give me an opportunity to interact with @SecDef and @SecBlinken with @DrSJaishankar on ways to deepen the India-US strategic partnership,” the minister said in another tweet.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd J Austin III will receive the Indian Defense Secretary at a solemn felicitation ceremony at the Pentagon on April 11 (Sunday). India and the US are set to hold 2+2 talks on Sunday between Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar and their respective US counterparts.
“The talks will enable the two sides to comprehensively review cross-cutting issues on the India-US bilateral agenda related to foreign policy, defense and security, with a view to providing strategic guidance and a vision to further strengthen ties.” ” The statement of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.
“The 2+2 dialogue will provide an opportunity to exchange views about important regional and global developments and how we can work together to address issues of common interest and concern,” the statement said.
The US State Department has informed in a media note that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the Secretary of Defense will welcome their Indian counterparts in Washington DC on Sunday.
“The 2+2 Ministerial is an important opportunity to advance our shared objectives, which include enhancing our people-to-people relationships and education collaboration, by building diverse, resilient supply chains for critical and emerging technology. Increasing climate action and public health cooperation, and developing a trade and investment partnership to increase prosperity for working families in both countries,” the US statement said.
Stating that the dialogue would be an opportunity to highlight the growing key defense partnership between the US and India, the US State Department said, “The relationship between the world’s largest democracies is built on a foundation of common values and resilient democratic institutions, and The shared Indo-Pacific interests of a rules-based international order that protects sovereignty and territorial integrity, upholds human rights and promotes regional and global peace and prosperity.”
Secretary of State, who will visit the US on April 11-12, will also meet separately with his counterpart, Secretary of State Blinken, and will also meet senior members of the US administration to advance the India-US Strategic Global Partnership, Ministry of State Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi gave this information during the briefing.
Ahead of the 2+2 talks, External Affairs Minister Antony Blinken on Tuesday called on External Affairs Minister Jaishankar to review regional and global priorities, including the situation in Ukraine. The last 2+2 ministerial talks between the two countries were held in New Delhi in October 2020.
India and the United States held a bilateral 2+2 inter-sessional meeting in Washington in September last year and exchanged assessments on developments in South Asia, the Indo-Pacific region and the western Indian Ocean.
(with ANI inputs)
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