Sandeep Dikshit
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, December 19
The second India-US two plus two meeting held in Washington on Wednesday saw progress in closer ties in three areas — defence interoperability, people to people and regional cooperation — besides inking a new agreement on science and technology.
To work for free, open
- Indo-Pacific regionn In defence, the meeting touched five areas: Enhanced exercises, greater information sharing, expanded defence trade, placement of liaison officers and defence enabling agreements
- India and the US have reaffirmed their commitment to work together in support of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific
The simultaneous meeting of Defence and Foreign Ministers of both countries is seen as a high watermark that aims to translate the strategic convergence between the two countries into tangible outcomes.
In defence, the meeting touched five areas: Enhanced exercises, greater information sharing, expanded defence trade, placement of liaison officers and defence enabling agreements.
It decided to match cooperation between the Armies and Air Forces to the level achieved by the navies that included a recent group sail in South China Sea and has been bolstered by secure hotlines with a secure communications agreement (COMCASA).
As Defence Minister Rajnath Singh pointed out, the meeting dwelt on further developing the military liaison relationship in tune with India’s expanded concept of a maritime domain stretching from the east coast of Africa to the India-Pacific.
These include a link between the naval headquarters and US INDOPACOM and posting an Indian liaison officer at the US Navy’s Central Command.
A hotline between Singh and his US Secretary of Defense is already operational. The theme of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region girded the discussions.
The other aspect in defence is pushing more US products in the IAF.
Under the rubric of regional cooperation, the meeting decided to jointly train peacekeepers in the Indo-Pacific, expand judicial training to countries in the Indo-Pacific, capacity building in third countries, disaster relief and addressing the health of oceans. The meeting was satisfied with “tangible results” in the Quad meeting of cyber experts and a counter-terrorism tabletop exercise which is aimed at “aligning like-minded powers behind the principle of a free and open Indo-Pacific”.
The people-to-people aspect saw both sides agreeing on new exchange programmes for parliamentarians and young innovators (besides 2 lakh Indian students currently studying in the US contributing about $7 billion to US economy.
Both Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had bilateral meetings with their respective counterparts.