US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin reached Delhi on Friday. (File)
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin speaking about India-US ties at a briefing today said there are a number of things that India and US can work on together as both are the largest democracies in the world and "there are some shared values there."
He also said that the US at no point believed that India and China were on the verge of a war.
Mr Austin, who arrived in Delhi earlier on Friday, is on a three-day official visit to the country. It is the first visit to India by a top official of US President Joe Biden's administration.
Mr Austin met Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday and also held wide-ranging talks with defence minister Rajnath Singh today, focusing on further expansion of bilateral strategic ties, evolving situation in the Indo-Pacific region and challenges of terrorism.
Here are the Highlights on what US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said:
- Joe Biden has said that human rights and the rule of law is important to US, and we lead with values. India is a democratic country and it also respect values... there are a number of things that we can work on together.
- On China: US never thought that India and China are on a brink of war. By continuing to work with like-minded countries on shared values we can check aggression... working with India, Australia and other regions to ensure we maintain freedom of navigation and by doing the right things to ensure peace in the Indo Pacific region
- India has not acquired the S-400 Russian missile system yet, so the issue of sanctions was not discussed.
- On Quad group: Willing to work with countries who share our values... always willing to work with folks who share our values and our aspirations.
- Consider India to be a great partner. We have done a number of things to work well together. There's a lot of opportunity to do some things to make sure we are promoting peace and stability and providing for a free and open Indo Pacific region.
- On human rights issues in India: We have discussed the human rights issues with Indian ministers. We have to remember that India is our partner, a partner whose partnership we value. And I think partners need to be able to have those kinds of discussions. And certainly we feel comfortable in doing that... and you can have those discussions in a very meaningful way and make progress.