E-Paper
Jaishankar in US next week, to discuss vaccines and Indo-Pacific
External affairs minister Jaishankar will meet UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in New York with India joining the UNSC and will hold bilateral talks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on vaccine production and procurement, Indo-Pacific, Afghanistan and Middle East flare up.
External affairs minister (EAM) Subrahmanyam Jaishankar is travelling to the United States this Sunday for a week-long trip to meet UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in New York and hold a bilateral meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington to discuss vaccine production, resilient supply chains and the Indo-Pacific.
According to South Block officials, EAM Jaishankar will meet Secretary General Guterres in the backdrop of India joining the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) as non-permanent member this year. The UNSC has been involved in discussions over the Israel retaliation to the Hamas rocket attacks from Gaza. However, with the help of Egyptian and US interlocutors both sides have now declared ceasefire. India has also made a statement on the skirmish last week.
While India has decided to play an active role in the UNSC in the coming months, Jaishankar’s key meetings are in Washington to ensure that raw material pipeline from the US for manufacture of vaccines in India continues uninterrupted. On the coronavirus front, Jaishankar will be engaged with the US administration to secure unused vaccines particularly Astra Zeneca as well from the 80 million stock-pile under control of the Biden administration. New Delhi is also looking at joint production of Johnson & Johnson's vaccine in collaboration with the US in India. The external affairs minister will also be talking to other US-based vaccine developers as part of interaction under the aegis of India-American Chambers of Commerce.
However, another important aspect of Jaishankar-Blinken meeting will be to discuss the resilient global supply chains as well as discuss the Indo-Pacific region with Chinese Army still not willing to restore April 2020 status quo in East Ladakh. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has still not gone back to its bases in Gogra-Hot Springs area around strategic Kongka la in East Ladakh and the Chinese are seriously ramping up military infrastructure all along the 3488 km LAC. On Thursday, Jaishankar made it clear that India-China bilateral relations will not be normalized till such time the PLA honours the 1993 and 1996 bilateral accords and restore peace and tranquilty on the LAC. The two leaders will also discuss the crisis in the Middle East arising out of Hamas rocket attacks at Israel from Gaza as well as Taliban’s role in continued violence in Afghanistan. With the US forces all set to exit out of Afghanistan in October, stage is already set for the Islamic republic to turn to Emirate with Taliban pushing their way towards Kabul through military might and tacit support of their handlers and ideologues in Pakistan.
