Rajnath-Austin meet focuses on enhancing defence ties

NEW DELHI: The bilateral meeting between Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and US Defence Secretary Lloyd James Austin on Saturday focused on defence cooperation, expanding military-to-military engagement across services, information sharing, cooperation in emerging sectors of defence, and mutual logistics support.

"We had a comprehensive and fruitful discussion with Secretary Austin and his delegation. We are keen to work together to realise the full potential of the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership," Singh said after the meeting.

Austin is on a three-day visit to India starting Friday. Upon arrival, he had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.

Singh said that they reviewed the wide gamut of bilateral and multilateral exercises and agreed to pursue enhanced cooperation with the US Indo-Pacific Command, Central Command and Africa Command.

"Acknowledging that we have in place the foundational agreements, LEMOA, COMCASA and BECA, we discussed steps to be taken to realise their full potential for mutual benefit," he said.

The minister pointed out that the recent Leaders' Summit of India, the US, Japan and Australia under the Quad framework emphasised on the resolve to maintain a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.

"We discussed the need for enhanced capacity building to address some of the non-traditional challenges such as oil spills and environmental disasters, drug trafficking, illegal, unreported, unregulated (IUU) fishing and others," Singh said.

India is committed to further consolidate robust defence partnership with the US, the minister said. After the meeting, Austin first expressed condolences for the tragic accident that killed an Indian Air Force pilot earlier this week.

"Our hearts go out to his family and friends. His death reminds us of the risks our brave service men and women take each day to defend our democracies, our people, and our way of life," Austin said.

The US Defence Secretary said that he had a productive discussion on a number of security issues which are important to both the countries.

"And at the top of my agenda, I wanted to convey the Biden-Harris administration's message of our strong commitment to our allies and partners," he said.

India, in particular, is an increasingly important partner amid today's rapidly shifting international dynamics, he said.

"I reaffirmed our commitment to a comprehensive and forward-looking defense partnership with India as a central pillar of our approach to the region. 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," Austin said. (IANS)

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