US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar discussed diplomatic efforts in response to Russian aggression, challenges in Afghanistan, placing Burma back on the path to democracy, and efforts to strengthen Indo-Pacific cooperation through Quad, spokesperson Ned Price said on Friday (local time).
Blinken met with Jaishankar in Melbourne and reviewed the progress made over the past year in broadening and deepening the US-India Strategic Partnership, which is critical to promoting peace, security, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.
"Secretary of State Antony J Blinken met today with Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in Melbourne. Secretary Blinken and Foreign Minister Jaishankar reviewed the progress made over the past year in broadening and deepening the US-India Strategic Partnership, which is critical to promoting peace, security, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond," Ned Price said in a statement.
"Secretary Blinken and Minister Jaishankar discussed efforts to strengthen Indo-Pacific cooperation through the Quad and expand cooperation on common priorities, including reinforcing the rules-based international order. Secretary Blinken and Minister Jaishankar also discussed cooperation on fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, diplomatic efforts in response to Russian aggression, the challenges we face in Afghanistan, placing Burma back on the path to democracy, and other issues of mutual concern," he added.
Both leaders complemented each other for a "grateful partnership" between the US and India during the COVID-19 pandemic and said that Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) is an "opportunity and the excuse to be able to compare notes directly on the many challenges both countries are dealing together."
The US State Secretary further said that the 4th Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Melbourne is an "opportunity for us to see each other and looking forward to getting together with our colleagues as well in a couple of hours."
Responding to the comments, Jaishankar laid stress on the strong bilateral relationships between the two countries.
"Good to see you, and good to see you all. I agree with you. I think the Quad has been .... and much of that is due to the fact that we all devoted a lot of time, energy, attention to that. We have made it into concrete actionable propositions. At the same time, a big part of that is because we have such strong bilateral relationships. And certainly for us in this century, the changing India-US relationship has been very defining," said Jaishankar.
The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) is a partnership of four nations (Australia, India, Japan and the US) each of whom share a commitment to openness, transparency and challenges coming out of the current global order.
This is the first time Quad Foreign Ministers are meeting since the two Quad Summits last year.
( With inputs from ANI )
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