Blinken, EAM discuss crises in Asia and Ukraine | Latest India News

The two also reviewed progress in the India-US bilateral partnership in areas of emerging and critical technologies, including sectors such as semiconductors and clean energy.

Jaishankar met with Blinken at the State Department in Washington. They met in Delaware during the Four Leaders Summit and President Joe Biden’s bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 21, and then in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly during the G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting. The foreign ministers’ involvement comes at an intense moment in India-US diplomacy, even as America grapples with elections internally and two wars externally.

Jaishankar also met Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan, calling the meeting great. “As always, a productive conversation on bilateral cooperation and good global policy insights,” he wrote on X. Sullivan is spearheading the key and emerging technologies initiative, which has become a key framework for deepening India-US ties.

In opening remarks before the meeting, Blinken first addressed the press about Iran’s attacks on Israel. He called it completely unacceptable, hoped other countries would condemn it, and expressed America’s support for Israel. Blinken then welcomed his “friend,” Jaishankar, and said the past weeks had shown “the incredible vibrancy and strength behind the partnership.”

Jaishankar said he looked forward to reviewing both bilateral relations and global developments, including the developments Blinken mentioned in referring to the Iran strikes. Hours before the meeting at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Jaishankar said India was concerned about the spreading conflict in West Asia and added: “Do not underestimate the importance of communication in difficult times. If there’s something to say and pass on, I think that’s all we can contribute and we do.

India is believed to have played a role in communications between the US and Iran in the past, including most recently during the April crisis, when the US expected Iran’s response to the Israeli provocation and advised all parties to exercise proportionality and restraint.

Referring to Biden and Modi’s meetings in Delaware, Blinken said: “The warmth of this meeting and the ambition in the relationship is at a level we have never seen before. I think it’s a reflection of the value that both countries place on this partnership – a partnership in so many different areas, including strategic technology sectors, including space, including semiconductors, including clean energy, in which our countries are increasingly collaborating and creating new opportunities for people both in India and the United States, but also more broadly around the world.”

Blinken also praised India as playing a “critical role” on the international stage for peace, stability and security and said it was a good opportunity for them to “take stock” of the issues India and the US are working on.

Jaishankar thanked Blinken for the “very good” Quad meeting in Delaware. After the meeting, Jaishankar posted on X: “We continued our bilateral and quadrilateral meetings in Delaware. Our talks also concerned deepening bilateral cooperation, the situation in West Asia, and recent events on the Indian subcontinent, the Indo-Pacific region and Ukraine.

In a readout of the meeting, the State Department said Blinken and Jaishankar discussed both sides’ “enduring commitment” to deepen ties and agreed to “close coordination on regional and global issues” and to advance technology cooperation.

While the minister did not go into detail on the issue and the State Department did not address the countries in question, people familiar with the situation said Bangladesh was involved in the discussions during which the Indian side expressed its concerns about the rise of radical and extremist forces, the potential instability in the country and its consequences for security.

The State Department added: “Secretary Blinken noted Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Kiev in August and reiterated the importance of a just and lasting peace for Ukraine.” Indian leaders updated key interlocutors on India’s engagement with Ukraine and Russia over the past three months and on its efforts towards peace.

Modi’s visit to Kiev helped to allay concerns raised by his visit to Moscow during the 75th anniversary of the NATO summit in Washington, and US policymakers are believed to have been more appreciative of India’s ability to talk to both sides. India is currently dealing with the specifics of the Ukraine crisis and has conveyed messages to both sides; is also tentatively exploring ways to engage key actors in a limited format to encourage dialogue, even with the knowledge that the US presidential election remains a major variable that will shape the calculations of both Russia and Ukraine.

The two leaders also discussed plans to expand cooperation on “clean energy initiatives” to address the global climate crisis, according to a State Department readout.

The diplomatic activity comes in the final stage of Biden’s presidency. In an essay published Tuesday in Foreign Affairs on Biden’s foreign policy record, Blinken cited raising the profile of the Quad and raising the ambition of the India-U.S. strategic partnership as his most important highlights. Biden used the Delaware summit to make the Quad a personal legacy.

For its part, the Indian side used the last ten days of intense diplomacy on the India-US front to consolidate the achievements in the relationship under the Biden administration, take stock of progress and challenges, and acknowledge the contributions of key actors within the US system.

Between Modi’s in-person meetings with Biden in Delaware and Jaishankar’s visit to D.C., Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri also visited D.C. last week and met with U.S. NSA Principal Deputy Jon Finer, Deputy Secretary of State Richard R. Verma and Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks. Industry and Trade Minister Piyush Goyal will be in Washington this week to participate in the India-US CEO Forum and bilateral trade dialogue and sign a Memorandum of Understanding on Critical Minerals, while Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will be visiting bilateral meetings with the US side DC to participate in the fall meetings of the World Bank and IMF at the end of the month. In August, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh visited the United States.