New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar on Friday met the US Secretary of Defence Llyod Austin in Washington DC during which the two leaders discussed the entire gamut of strategic and defence partnerships.
Jaishankar extended his appreciation to the US military for its commendable work in tackling the Covid-19 crisis.
Taking to Twitter, Jaishankar said, "A warm meeting with US@SecDef Lloyd Austin. A comprehensive conversation about further developing our strategic and defence partnership. Exchanged views on contemporary security challenges. Expressed appreciation of the US military role in responding to the Covid situation."
The EAM is on his five-day official visit to the United States and this was his first cabinet-level visit to America after President Joe Biden came to power. Earlier, he met UN chief Antonio Guterres in New York and reflected upon India's approach towards UNSC.
Jaishankar’s visit comes at a time when India is battling the deadly wave of COVID-19 and healthcare system reels under shortage of vaccines,oxygen and other healthcare aid.
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Meanwhile, Jaishankar met the U.S. Secretary of state Antony Blinken on Friday afternoon at Washington DC ( 11:30 pm IST) and held a detailed discussion on the bilateral relations between the two nations and both leaders reaffirmed their commitment towards a stronger relationship.
During a press briefing, before their meeting, Blinken asserted that the partnership between the two countries was vital, strong and increasingly productive and that they had a lot to discuss.
He further stated that the two countries were working together on so many of the most important challenges of our times and mentioned that the countries were working together to deal with COVID-19 and climate change. Blinken also highlighted the bilateral partnership, partnership with the Quad and UN institutions, during his opening remarks.
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In a similar line, Jaishankar reiterated, "The US showed strong support and solidarity with India at a moment of great difficulty for us. We have plenty to talk about." On Thursday, Jaishankar called on National Security Advisor of the United States (NSA) Jake Sullivan and held wide-ranging discussions on Indo-Pacific and Afghanistan relations.
Jaishankar also conveyed appreciation for US solidarity in addressing the Covid challenges and said that the India-US vaccine partnership can make a real difference. Besides, the External Affairs Minister also met other top officials of the Biden administration including U.S. trade representative ambassador Katherine Tai.
"Our trade, technology and business cooperation are at the core of our strategic partnership. Enhancing them is vital to post-Covid economic recovery, " Jaishankar tweeted after meeting her. "India welcomed her positive stance on IPR issues and support for efficient & robust supply chains," he tweeted.
With the increasing pressure on the Centre to vaccinate the citizens, there are expectations that Minister Jaishankar will be able to push for procurement and manufacturing of vaccines during his likely meeting with the vaccine manufacturers in the United States.
Now it remains to be seen how many doses of vaccines will come to India.
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