New Delhi: The growing might of the Chinese military and its aggression, along with issues of enhanced information sharing and cooperation on modern technology, were the key defence areas discussed in the 4th round of 2 +2 dialogue between India and the US in Washington Monday, government sources told ThePrint.
“The thrust of the talk was Indo-Pacific and the need to collaborate on this. Indo-pacific in American sense is a vast area and, in our sense, a much more restricted area,” a source said.
Interestingly, US Defence Secretary Llyod Austin had said while welcoming Defence Minister Rajnath Singh ahead of the talks, that across the region, the People’s Republic of China is attempting to challenge and undermine the sovereignty of its neighbors.
“Beijing is eroding the security of the Indo-Pacific region from its construction of dual-use infrastructure along your border to its unlawful claims in the South China Sea, and we will continue to stand alongside you as you defend your sovereign interest,” he had said.
Sources explained that the rise of China — especially its military prowess and muscle flexing tactics — was discussed at length during the defence and security talks.
“There is no denying that China is the big elephant in the room and can’t be ignored. A lot of discussion took place on China and how US and India can collaborate more in terms of information sharing, space and over all military technology,” the source cited above said.
Another source said that while India has been a peace loving country, it is not oblivious to challenges and threats.
“The US has a tougher language when it comes to China. For us China is our immediate neighbour. We seek to maintain good ties with all our neighbours, but at the same time we are also investing in strengthening our military, which is also very important,” said the second source.
‘Partnership critical for Indo-Pacific, Indian Ocean Region’
Following the talks, Singh said both India and the US shared a common vision of a free, open, inclusive and rules-based Indo-Pacific and Indian Ocean Region.
“Our partnership is of critical importance for peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and the Indian Ocean Region. During the meeting, we shared our assessments of the situation in our neighbourhood and the India Ocean Region. The use of terrorism as an instrument of statecraft against India came up prominently,” Singh said at the joint press conference after the meeting.
He also noted that increased bilateral cooperation between India and the US will be critical to maintain peace and security, and to ensure free access to global commons.
The Defence Minister said that extensive engagement between India and the US has yielded important results.
Some of these include the signing of a Space Situational Awareness Agreement between the India’s Department of Space and the US Department of Defence (on the sidelines of the 2+2 talks), the commencing of the defence space and defence artificial intelligence dialogues in near future, significant progress on other initiatives and agreements under discussion, and a shared desire to increase the scope and complexity of our military exercises, he said.
Singh also said both sides have agreed to further cooperation in the fields of defence cyber, special forces and expanding the scope of logistics cooperation under the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) signed in 2016, and during joint military exercises.
A joint statement released Tuesday said the ministers welcomed the progress made in the past year on developing a positive and constructive agenda for the Quad — or Quadrilateral Security Dialogue of which both India and the US are members — to deliver peace and prosperity to the region in pursuance of their shared vision for a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific.
“The Ministers reiterated their commitment to take forward the initiatives announced by the leaders, to empower the Quad as a force for global good for the Indo-Pacific region, and welcomed ongoing discussions in the Quad Working Groups on vaccines, climate change, infrastructure, space, cyber security, and critical and emerging technologies for delivering practical and tangible benefits to the region,” the statement said.
Sources also said that the issue of India buying Russian equipment also came under discussion, and India made it clear that it has diversified its purchases and welcomed American companies to invest in India.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
Also read: Seeing past Russia, US says ‘able & willing’ to be India’s partner of choice, recalls Nehru-Truman