New Delhi: The US has deepened its partnership with India and elevated cooperation through the Quad, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in his year-end presser Wednesday.
He also spoke about US’ relations with China and said they have opened up lines of communication with the merging power block while continuing to work with partners to counter challenges presented by Beijing.
Speaking about India, he said, “We have deepened our partnership with India. We’ve elevated cooperation through the Quad with India, Japan, Australia”.
He added that America’s partnerships in the Indo-Pacific have “never been stronger”.
This comes amid an ongoing US federal investigation into whether an Indian government employee was involved in a plot to assassinate Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
Five days prior, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) had also called on the Biden administration to designate India as a country of particular concern on account of “severe religious freedom violations”.
While speaking to the press, Blinken also spoke on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, restoring communication lines with China and remarked that today Russia is “weaker militarily, economically, diplomatically”.
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Efforts to restore ‘high-level diplomacy’ with China
On the issue with China, he said, “We’re [China and the US] restoring military-to-military communications at all levels to reduce the possibility of miscalculation and conflict. And we have agreed to discuss risks and safety around artificial intelligence (AI),” said Blinken.
“The United States is more closely aligned…with the G7, with the EU, with other allies and partners on the challenges presented by Beijing,” he added.
Last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the US — his first in six years — after US President Joe Biden said his goal in their bilateral talks was to restore normal communications.
This visit came after a slew of top US officials, including Blinken and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, visited Beijing to engage with counterparts.
“Efforts to restore high-level diplomacy, starting with my trip to Beijing in July, have allowed us to take practical steps to reduce the risk that competition veers into conflict. That was on full display when President Biden met with President Xi last month and made tangible progress on issues that matter,” Blinken told reporters.
Last month, a video of Biden calling Xi Jinping a “dictator” surfaced a day after he met his Chinese counterpart on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in San Francisco. A video of Blinken visibly grimacing at Biden’s choice of words went viral.
‘Gut-wrenching’ situation in Gaza
While answering questions from reporters, Blinken said Washington has been deeply engaged with Israel to minimise harm to people in Gaza. According to Palestinian officials, at least 20,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Israel began bombarding the enclave in response to Hamas’s attack on 7 October. Reports also indicate an uptick in violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
“The last couple of months have been gut-wrenching when you see the suffering of men, women, and especially children in Gaza,” Blinken told reporters.
“We continue to believe that Israel does not have to choose between removing the threat of Hamas and minimising the toll on civilians in Gaza. It has an obligation to do both and it has a strategic interest to do both,” he added.
The conflict, which saw a brief ceasefire period earlier this month, continues to rage with over 200 Israelis held as hostage by Hamas. This week, the UN Security Council has delayed a critical vote for a fresh call for ceasefire twice. Reports indicate that the Biden administration is working on key wording with regard to the draft resolution to avoid another US veto that was seen earlier this month with a previous resolution.
The US expects Israeli forces to begin more targeted operations with a smaller number of forces, and a “low-intensity” phase to follow, said Blinken.
He further argued that there is “silence on what Hamas could do, should do, must do if we want to end the suffering of innocent men, women, and children.”
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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