Indo-US 2+2 to take up Israel, rights issue

Tribune News Service

Sandeep Dikshit

New Delhi, November 3

The Israel-Hamas conflict, besides human rights and democracy, will be on the table at the forthcoming 2+2 meeting of the Foreign and Defence Ministers of the US and India on November 10.

Asked how much the India-Canada row is going to figure in the meeting, senior US State Department official Donald Lu said the US had publicly and privately urged the Indian Government to cooperate with Ottawa on the investigation into the allegations made by Canadian PM Justin Trudeau. “I know that we have been in constant contact with our Canadian partners, and we are hopeful that Canada’s investigation will proceed and the perpetrators will be brought to justice,” he said.

Describing the India part of the tour as “a key part” of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s ongoing multi-country visit, Lu said a major discussion point would be to keep the Indo-Pacific free, open, prosperous and secure.

The meeting, in which cornering and competing with China will be the prime topic, comes against the backdrop of Quad member and Australian PM Anthony Albanese arriving in Beijing on Friday. US President Joe Biden is scheduled to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping very soon. Another official, Daniel Kritenbrink, said the US was following the “invest, align, compete” strategy with China and claimed that the fundamentals of the bilateral ties had not changed.

Lu, however, maintained that the US remained “laser-focused” on the Indo-Pacific.

He also noted that on the Israel-Hamas conflict, New Delhi was “direct” in its condemnation of the Hamas terrorist attack and also joined “a chorus of nations”, including the US, calling for sustained humanitarian access to Gaza. “With India, we share the goals of preventing this conflict from spreading, preserving stability in the Middle East, and advancing a two-state solution,” he underlined.

On the defence co-production front, Lu said, “Our intention is to encourage more collaboration to produce world-class defence equipment to meet Indian defence needs and contribute to greater global security.” The two sides will also discuss expanded cooperation in clean energy, counterterrorism, AI, space and semiconductor manufacturing.

In addition, Blinken will hold meetings with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and other senior Indian officials.

Praises India’s stand

On the Israel-Hamas conflict, US State Department senior official Donald Lu said New Delhi was “direct” in its condemnation of the Hamas terrorist attack and joined ‘a chorus of nations’, including the United States, calling for sustained humanitarian access to Gaza.

Defence industrial cooperation on agenda

US Secretary of Defence Lloyd J Austin will also hold a meeting with his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh. “The two are to discuss expanding defence industrial cooperation, enhancing interoperability and advancing innovation through the India-US Defence Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X),” the US Department of Defence said on Friday.

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#Canada #Democracy #Hamas #human rights #Israel