US Secretary Blinken will reaffirm strength of bilateral ties with India: White House

India

oi-Prakash KL

US
Secretary
of
State
Antony
Blinken
will
reaffirm
the
strengthening
of
the
bilateral
relationship
during
his
three-day
trip
to
India,
the
White
House
said
Wednesday.

Blinken,
who
arrived
in
New
Delhi
Wednesday
night
after
his
Central
Asia
trip,
is
in
New
Delhi
primarily
to
attend
the
G-20
Foreign
Ministers
meeting.
On
the
sidelines
of
which
he
will
have
a
meeting
with
his
counterparts
of
Quad
countries
and
participate
in
a
panel
discussion
with
them.

“Secretary
Blinken
will
reaffirm
the
strength
of
the
US-India
relationship
and
express
our
commitment
to
continue
working
together
and
in
groups
like
the
Quad
to
advance
economic
growth
for
our
two
countries
and
expand
cooperation
as
we
have
our
shared
priorities,”
White
House
Press
Secretary
told
reporters
at
a
news
conference
here.

“Namaste,
India!”
Blinken’s
Deputy
Spokesperson
Vedant
Patel
said
on
the
landing
of
Blinken
in
New
Delhi.
“Secretary
Blinken
has
arrived
in
New
Delhi
for
the
G-20
FMM
(foreign
ministers
meeting)
and
to
strengthen
the
US-India
strategic
partnership,
which
is
founded
on
our
shared
values
including
a
commitment
to
democracy
and
the
rules-based
international
system,”
Patel
said
in
a
tweet.

Soon
after
the
landing
of
Blinken
in
New
Delhi,
State
Department
Spokesperson
Ned
Price
told
reporters
that
he
will
attend
the
G-20
meeting
and
take
part
in
the
Raisina
Dialogue.
“He
will
also
have
an
opportunity
to
engage
on
a
bilateral
basis
with
his
Foreign
Secretary
(sic)
Jaishankar,
and
other
senior
Indian
counterparts,”
he
said.

Blinken
would
also
hold
bilateral
talks
with
the
External
Affairs
Minister
S
Jaishankar.
“Our
relationship
with
India
is
a
global
strategic
partnership.
It
is
a
partnership
that
is
broad;
it
is
a
partnership
that
is
deep
and
comprehensive.
So,
they’ll
have
an
opportunity
to
discuss
the
issues
that
will
dominate
the
agenda
within
the
G20,”
Price
said.

“They’ll
have
an
opportunity
to
discuss
some
of
the
new
areas
of
partnership
between
the
United
States
and
India,
including
when
it
comes
to
technology,
including
when
it
comes
to
the
cyber
realm,
including
when
it
comes
to
the
ways
in
which
we
are
attempting
to
integrate
our
partner,
India,
into
our
broader
set
of
partnerships
across
the
world
including
through
I2U2,
the
partnership
that
brings
together
the
United
States,
India,
Israel,
and
the
United
Arab
Emirates,”
he
said.

Blinken
will
have
an
opportunity
to
discuss
the
shared
vision
for
a
free
Indo-Pacific,
and
broadly
he’ll
have
an
opportunity
to
talk
about
what
is
a
bedrock
of
the
partnership
between
the
United
States
and
India,
Price
said.
“What
unites
our
two
countries
are
common
interests.
We
all
share
an
interest
in
a
free
and
open
Indo-Pacific
region.
But
our
people
and
the
deep
people-to-people
ties
are
also
predicated
on
the
shared
values
between
our
two
countries,”
he
said.

“Of
course,
as
two
of
the
largest
democracies
in
the
world,
we
always
discuss
these
issues
knowing
that
we
can
learn
from
one
another,
and
our
engagement
puts
us
in
a
position
to
strengthen
our
own
democracies,”
Price
said.
Responding
to
a
question,
Price
said
G20
is
an
important
forum.
“We
are
supportive
of
India’s
leadership
and
its
effective
stewardship
of
the
G20
this
year,
and
it’s
an
important
forum
where,
as
guided
by
the
Indian
leadership
this
year,
participants
will
be
able
to
talk
about
the
issues
that
matter
most
to
the
people
that
are
represented
by
this
forum,”
he
said.

They’ll
have
an
opportunity
to
talk
about
food
security,
to
talk
about
energy,
health
security,
common
challenges
like
fentanyl
and
narcotics,
he
said.
“The
G20
is
not
principally
a
security
forum,
but
as
the
leaders
recognized
in
Bali
under
Indonesia’s
leadership
last
year,
security
issues
do
have
implications
for
all
of
these
issues
that
the
G20
countries
care
about.
“What
we
saw
coming
out
of
the
G20
finance
ministers
meeting
last
weekend
was
a
very
clear
manifestation
that
the
G20
is
determined
to
make
progress,
to
address
and
confront
these
common
challenges,
and
to
the
extent
there
are
divides
within
the
G20,
it
is
Russia,
it
is
China
that
find
themselves
isolated,”
Price
said.

His
visit
to
India
comes
weeks
after
Blinken
cancelled
his
China
trip
due
to
the
balloon
incident.

With
inputs
from
PTI