The defense minister’s comments come amid concerns over the more than three-year-old border dispute between India and China in eastern Ladakh, as well as the growing intrusion of Chinese military vessels into the Indian Ocean region. “The India-US defense relationship has evolved into a strategic partnership characterized by mutual trust, shared values and a growing recognition of mutual interests in maintaining regional and global security,” Singh said in his opening remarks at the bilateral talks.
“We increasingly agree on strategic issues including countering Chinese aggression, promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific and addressing regional security challenges,” the defense minister said. We focus on maritime security in the Indo-Pacific region. Recognizing the importance of promoting the security and stability of critical sea lanes, our teams are working on concrete results.
He said India and the US are forging new avenues of cooperation aimed at defense, industrial connectivity, easing technology restrictions, promoting ties in the maritime sector and ensuring resilient supply chains in all sectors. The Ministry of Defense said that Singh and Austin prepared an agenda for future joint work for both sides.
In a media briefing after the talks, Austin said the two sides talked about the security challenges posed by China. The Ministry of Defense said in a statement that Singh and Austin had extensive discussions on defense and strategic issues. “Special attention was given to enhancing defense industrial cooperation and enabling the defense industries of both sides to collaboratively co-develop and co-produce defense systems,” it said.
The ministry said the two ministers explored ways and means to advance defense technology cooperation with joint research in important areas. “They reviewed the progress of the India-US Defense Industrial Ecosystem ‘Indus-X’, which was launched in June this year and aims to strengthen collaboration between Indian and US governments, businesses and academic institutions,” the statement said. Expand strategic technology partnerships and defense industrial cooperation.
Apart from Austin, Foreign Minister Antony Blinken was also included in the US delegation in the ‘two plus two’ dialogue. The Indian side was led by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Singh.
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