“Building Future Together: India and the US”: Blinken and Jaishankar Open the Fifth Edition of the 2+2 Meeting

For the sixth iteration of the India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Union Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar convened in New Delhi on Friday.

The minister of foreign affairs acknowledged the importance of the meeting and thanked the US for continuing to assist India during its G20 chairmanship.

“On behalf of Prime Minister Modi, I would like to thank the US government and President Biden for their strong support during the G20 Summit in September. Without it, I don’t think we would have achieved the consensus and results we did,” Jaishankar stated.

The fact that India led the G20 this year further demonstrated that we have the best bilateral relationship we have ever had as well as a regional and even global one. We need to work with our defense counterparts among other things. According to news agency ANI, Blinken said, “I think it’s further evidence of our resolute focus for the United States on the Indo-Pacific, our region for the future, the future is actually now, and we’re building it together with India.”

Thursday saw the arrival of US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin in New Delhi, where he was met by his colleague Rajnath Singh. They spoke on ways to improve defense cooperation between the US and India.

“Our relationship with India is one of close collaboration. One of the many subjects that will be covered is deepening security cooperation in collaboration, Principal Deputy Spokesperson for the US State Department Vedant Patel said before to the meeting.

The goal of the conference, according to US Ambassador to South and Central Asia Donald Lu, is to push for further cooperation between the two countries in order to boost defense equipment manufacturing.

According to Lu, who spoke with news agency AFP, “Our intention is to encourage more collaboration to produce world-class defense equipment to meet Indian defense needs and contribute to greater global security.”

Additionally, Blinken and Jaishankar will talk about changes in West Asia after the Israel-Hamas conflict of 2023. India declared its support for Israel, denounced Hamas, maintained its stance on Palestine, and advocated for the creation of two states.

The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor makes stability in West Asia crucial as the Gaza war seriously jeopardizes plans to establish a vital economic and transportation route that would connect Europe, the Middle East, and India. This route was announced at the September G20 meeting in Delhi.

According to the news agency, Lu said, “With India, we share the goals of preventing this conflict from spreading, preserving stability in the Middle East, and advancing a two-state solution.”

The US is interested in knowing the current situation, according to Lu, who also said that border tensions between China and India would be addressed. He said that since it is dedicated to an open and free Indo-Pacific, the US is interested in the matter.

We look forward to learning more about the progress of India’s border talks with China. Our collaboration with India to maintain the Indo-Pacific region free, open, prosperous, and security will be one of the many topics of discussion, Lu said. The conflict in Ukraine will also be on the agenda.