India, US to hold next 2+2 dialogue in April | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
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India, US to hold next 2+2 dialogue in April

Mar 29, 2022 11:00 PM IST

Against the backdrop of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, defence minister Rajnath Singh and external affairs minister S Jaishankar will meet their US counterparts on or around April 11 to further cement defence and political ties between the two countries as well as exchange notes on the Ukraine and Indo-Pacific theatres of concern, officials familiar with the matter said

Against the backdrop of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, defence minister Rajnath Singh and external affairs minister S Jaishankar will meet their US counterparts on or around April 11 to further cement defence and political ties between the two countries as well as exchange notes on the Ukraine and Indo-Pacific theatres of concern, officials familiar with the matter said. This will be the first dialogue in the two-plus-two format between India and US since President Joe Biden took over.

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While India has noted with concern public statements from the US about New Delhi being “shaky” and on the “wrong side of history”, the stand of the Narendra Modi government on Ukraine is quite unambiguous : it has called for the complete cessation of violence, resolution of differences through dialogue and for the recognition and protection of territorial integrity of nation-states. PM Modi has communicated the same stance to Russian President Vladimir Putin as well as Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during telephonic conversations.

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To be sure, New Delhi acknowledges the nuance that some sections of the US administration have shown in understanding its stance on Ukraine, just as it remembers the silence from EU countries particularly Germany in criticizing China for PLA’s unilateral transgression along the East Ladakh LAC in May 2020. Many EU countries are still buying oil and gas from Russia.

During the two-plus-two dialogue, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Llyod Austin are expected to share the American assessment of the Ukraine war, which is into its second month with Russian forces losing steam , and Moscow redefining war objectives, even on Tuesday night offering to reduce the intensity of its attacks on Kyiv.

The two sides will also share assessments on the Indo-Pacific with the Chinese Navy growing in strength by the day and PLA dragging its feet on restoring peace and tranquillity on the East Ladakh LAC. The fact is that the PLA is still fully deployed in the occupied Aksai Chin area with heavy weaponry and long-range missiles in-depth areas of Xinjiang and Tibet, making it next to impossible for India to disengage.

India and US will also increase defence cooperation with the American F-18 deck based fighter being considered for the soon-to-be-commissioned aircraft carrier INS Vikrant. The twin-engine multirole combat jet is expected to undergo ski jump trials at INS Hamla in Goa in April-May with trials of Rafale-M already concluded in January. The Indian Navy is expected to purchase at least 36 jets for INS Vikrant as the development of an indigenous deck based fighter is years away from fruition.

While India wants to indigenously develop armed drones under PM Modi’s “Atmanirbhar Bharat” initiative, the two sides are expected to discuss how US defence majors can set up shop in India in partnership with domestic manufacturers and produce major defence hardware provided Pentagon does not attach legal or operational strings to the project, the officials cited in the first instance said. .

The two sides will also discuss Afghanistan with the Taliban continuing with their regressive measures and hardline implementation of Islamic laws by keeping girls out of schools and women out of jobs. The political situation in Afghanistan continues to be grim with traditional Taliban leaders led by Mullah Yaqoob at loggerheads with the Pakistani ISI backed Haqqani Network led by global terrorist Sirajuddin Haqqani. The same political flux holds true for Pakistan with Prime Minister Imran Khan facing a strong challenge in a no-confidence motion moved by the Opposition. With Beijing’s support, Imran Khan has added the US to the list of Pakistan’s enemies led by India while taking no action against terror groups proliferating in his country in the name of jihad in Kashmir and beyond.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Author of Indian Mujahideen: The Enemy Within (2011, Hachette) and Himalayan Face-off: Chinese Assertion and Indian Riposte (2014, Hachette). Awarded K Subrahmanyam Prize for Strategic Studies in 2015 by Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA) and the 2011 Ben Gurion Prize by Israel.

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