In an effort to reinforce India as a regional counterweight to China and to win support for his views on Israel's battle with Hamas, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken will conduct meetings in New Delhi.
India has stated that this year's "two plus two" meetings, which will include Blinken and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, would center on "defense cooperation and security." Also participating will be India's External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh.
Together with the United States, Australia, and Japan, Delhi forms the Quadrilateral alliance, which seeks to counter China's rising influence in the Asia-Pacific.
By strengthening defense relations, Washington expects to see India move away from Russia, its current primary source of military hardware.
Before leaving, Donald Lu, the senior US diplomat for South and East Asia, stated, "Our intention is to encourage closer cooperation to produce world-class defense equipment that will meet India's defense needs and contribute to greater global security." The heart of Asia.
Blinken completed his Asian tour in smog-filled New Delhi on the evening of November 9 after visiting South Korea and attending a conference of G7 foreign ministers in Japan, during which they sought consensus stances on the Gaza war.
India has been swift to denounce Hamas, and its position on a Palestinian statehood is in line with that of the United States.
"The Indian government directly condemned the terrorist attack by Hamas and also joined a number of countries, including the United States, which called for sustained humanitarian access to Gaza," stated Lu.
Despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi's claims of "solidarity with Israel," India sent help to Egypt last month for Palestinians living under blockade in the Gaza Strip.
Hopes for a crucial commercial and transit route connecting Europe, the Middle East, and India were proposed during the G20 conference in Delhi in September, but the crisis in Gaza offers a severe threat to these plans.
"With India, we share the goals of preventing the spread of this conflict, maintaining stability in the Middle East and achieving a two-state solution," said Lu.
"We will be interested to hear how India's discussions with China on border issues are progressing," added Lu.
"One of the many points of discussion will be our cooperation with India to keep the Indo-Pacific region free, open, prosperous and secure," according to him.
Lu also promised to discuss Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
India's capital, New Delhi, has had to strike a delicate balance between its longstanding relationship with Russia (the source of most of its weaponry purchases) and its growing connections with the United States (the source of cheap oil).
Blinken's trip might be unpleasant due to the severe dispute between India and another important US partner, Canada, but President Joe Biden's administration has prioritized relations with Delhi because it sees India as an ally in opposing China's ascent.
After Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made "absurd" accusations that Indian intelligence was responsible for the September killing of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijhar, relations between the two nations deteriorated.
Nijar was sought by Indian authorities on charges of terrorism and murder plotting due to his advocacy of a sovereign Sikh nation independent of India.
"We have publicly and privately called on the Indian government to cooperate with Canada in investigating the allegations," stated Lu.
"We hope that Canada's investigation will continue and the perpetrators will be brought to justice," Lu stated. /BGNES
