Quad summit takes place Friday & US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is in New Delhi next week, even as Indian & Chinese troops work on disengagement in Ladakh.
The visit will take place keeping in mind Joe Biden govt’s larger foreign policy focus in which Indo-Pacific initiative plays a key role & hence Llyod’s deepening of ties with India is important.
At the virtual meet, four Quad nations — India, US, Australia and Japan — emphasised on respect for territorial integrity, transparency and peaceful resolution of dispute, MEA said.
This was the first time PM Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden had a conversation since the latter assumed office. They last spoke in November last year.
The exercise, Sea Dragon 2021, began in Guam earlier this month and will continue till 28 January. Along with India, Japan, US & Australia, Canada is also participating.
It seems China is able to impose itself as a critical business partner even at a time when countries have been grouping up against its increasing belligerence under Xi Jinping.
US Navy’s Nimitz Carrier Strike Group, India’s Vikramaditya Carrier Battle Group will join Japanese Navy and Australian Navy for the exercise that will go on until 20 November.
Indian and Japan, in an effort to bypass China, also discussed encouraging ASEAN to play a bigger role in terms of business and trade in the Indo-Pacific region.
Payne also said Quad countries will continue to deepen cooperation in areas like maritime security, cyber affairs and critical technology, counter-terrorism, among others.
The manifesto’s silence on legal reforms in the digital space is concerning. The outdated Information Technology Act, about two decades old now, remains India’s nodal tech law.
Economists say there are weaknesses in India’s GDP data. But statisticians claim the accusations are based on flawed understanding, saying while GDP has problems, the economists are looking in the wrong places.
Coaching centres for Army aspirants in Jhunjhunu are shutting down due to plummeting admissions in the face of a lack of job guarantees under Agnipath Scheme.
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