US defence secretary Lloyd Austin, the first senior member of the Biden administration to visit India, said on Saturday he had raised the issue of human rights of the country’s minorities with members of the Indian cabinet as “partners need to be able to have those kinds of discussions”.
Austin, the first African-American to hold the post of defense secretary, made the remarks while responding to a question at a media briefing on whether he had raised the human rights of India’s minorities during his interactions with Indian interlocutors.
Human rights and values were discussed as shared strengths of the two countries, senior Indian officials said, though there was no specific discussion on the human rights situation in India. The only specific discussion on this pertained to minorities and women in Afghanistan, the officials said.
Austin acknowledged he had discussed with defence minister Rajnath Singh on the issue of India’s acquisition of the S-400 missile defence system from Russia, which faces potential sanctions under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), but said sanctions were not “on the table” as India is yet to acquire the weapon system.
Austin also said the US never considered that “India and China were on the threshold of war” during their ongoing standoff in Ladakh sector of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
{{/usCountry}}Austin also said the US never considered that “India and China were on the threshold of war” during their ongoing standoff in Ladakh sector of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
{{/usCountry}}Asked specifically if he had raised the violation of human rights of India’s minorities as the first member of the Biden administration to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Austin replied that he “did not have an opportunity to talk with him [Modi]” about the issue during their meeting on Friday.
“Having said that, I did have a conversation with other members of the cabinet on this issue. I think we have to remember that India is our partner and 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 still make progress,” he said.
His version of events differed from the Indian side’s reading of the meeting, the Indian officials cited above said, although there was no official comment from India’s foreign or defence ministries on this.