NEW DELHI: Stating that India and the United States have made important steps towards strengthening their defence partnership, US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti said the two countries are committed to promoting resilient and rules-based international order to safeguard a "free, open, and inclusive" Indo-Pacific.
He further said that during the India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue, the ministers of both countries discussed the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Speaking at an event in the national capital, Garcetti said, "I think the joint statement (2+2 dialogue) reflects both countries' resolve to promote resilient rules-based international order to safeguard a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific through the Quad and other metrics and global issues. The ministers discussed the tragic humanitarian consequences of the conflict in Ukraine and the Middle East, reiterating their stance with Israel against terrorism but also seeking to alleviate civilian suffering and adhere to international humanitarian law.
The US envoy further said that the US is looking forward to welcoming more visitors in December and January and many major investments in Indian technology by US private sector companies as well. As government-to-government conversations, expand round space, defence, and production well.
"We made important steps towards strengthening our major defence partnership, which continues to grow, increasing the acceleration that we have seen through initiatives like the US-India roadmap for industrial cooperation and defence".
He further stressed that New Delhi and Washington should deepen their artificial intelligence (AI) conversation.
"India-US collaboration and cooperation in emerging domains, and also, more importantly, because we sometimes just focus on weapons and what's being sold or potentially co-developed. But the operational level of our militaries, which I think is as critical as any equipment, and our countries discuss ways to deepen our science and our technology partnerships to harness technology for the global good instead of technology that harms us rather than divides us, technology that can connect us and protect us," he said.
Garcetti also informed me that the US administration is in conversation with the Indian government to get more staff at consulates and is also speeding up visas.
The India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue was held in the national capital last week. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh participated in the meeting with their US counterparts, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin.
The dialogue provides a platform for top-level discussions between the US and India, where the leaders of the US and India discuss critical bilateral and global matters, with special emphasis on developments unfolding in the Indo-Pacific region.