Foreign minister S Jaishankar, US defence secretary hold talks on security

NEW DELHI: Ahead of his meeting with his US counterpart Anthony Blinken, foreign minister S Jaishankar met US defence secretary Lloyd Austin in Washington. Afterwards Jaishankar tweeted, “A warm meeting with 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.”
Austin was the only Biden cabinet member to visit India earlier this year.
Earlier, Jaishankar blitzed through a series of meetings with other cabinet members and business leaders in Washington. He met NSA Jake Sullivan following which he tweeted, “Wideranging discussions including on Indo-Pacific and Afghanistan. Conveyed appreciation for US solidarity in addressing the Covid challenge. India-US vaccine partnership can make a real difference.”
“Our people-to-people ties, and our values are the foundation of the US-India partnership and will help us end the pandemic, lead on climate, and support a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Sullivan tweeted.
Jaishankar also met the director of national intelligence Avril Haines. “Look forward to working closely together to address contemporary security challenges and advance our strategic partnership,” he said after the meeting.