NEW DELHI: The issue of human rights violations in India came up during the 2+2 ministerial meeting between India and the US in Washington DC. “We regularly engage with our Indian partners on these shared values, and to that end, we are monitoring some recent concerning developments in India, including a rise in human rights abuses by some government, police, and prison officials,’’ US Secretary of State Antony J Blinken said.
India’s representatives in the meeting — External Affairs Minister S Jaishaknar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh — did not react to Blinken’s statement. This point was not mentioned in a statement issued by the two sides. US Secretary of Defence Lloyd J Austin was the other participant in the meeting on Monday night.
Import of oil and gas from Russia came up for discussion and India stated that its import is not as significant as it is made out to be. Jaishankar said the country imports much less than several European nations put together. “If you are looking at energy purchases from Russia, I would suggest that your attention should be focussed on Europe. We do buy some energy which is necessary for our energy security. But I suspect, looking at the figures, probably our total purchase for a month would be less than what Europe does in an afternoon. You might want to think about that,” he said.
There were discussions on the Russia-Ukraine conflict and India’s stand on Russia. “A good part of my meeting with Secretary Blinken was spent on the conflict in Ukraine that has many ramifications. Even countries far away are worrying about energy security, food security, commodities prices and logistics disruption,’’ said Jaishankar.
The US acknowledged that India and Russia have traditional ties with each other and suggested it is a matter of time before India and the US are on the same page on most issues. Both countries called for concerted action against terrorists groups. The ministers called on Pakistan to take immediate, sustained and irreversible action to ensure that no territory under its control is used for terrorist attacks. India will host the next round of the meeting.