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Last week saw high-level, intense meetings between India and the United States as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Joe Biden held a surprise virtual summit, just before talks between External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and their American counterparts U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Gen. (Retd) Lloyd Austin in Washington in what is known as the “2+2” meeting between ministers.
India and the U.S. discussed a broad range of issues — from the COVID-19 response, supply chains and climate action to global and regional issues, but Russia’s war on Ukraine and its ramifications for the world appeared to have been the major theme for the day, reported Sriram Lakshman and Dinakar Peri. On the defence side, the two countries announced several measures at enhancing cooperation, including India joining the Bahrain-based multilateral partnership, Combined Maritime Force (CMF), as an associate partner.
This was, as The Hindu’s Diplomatic Affairs Editor Suhasini Haidar notes, the first 2+2 Ministerial held since the Biden administration took over, and the fourth such meeting ever. India holds a 2+2 with only 4 countries: the U.S., Australia, Japan, and Russia. What were the main takeaways from last week? And how did the crisis in Ukraine figure? You can read, or watch, Suhasini Haidar’s decoding of the 2+2 here:
More on India-U.S. relations:
U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken delivers remarks during the fourth U.S.-India 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue at the State Department in Washington. | Photo Credit: REUTERS
Last week, the first batch of Indian Navy aircrew successfully completed its training on the MH-60R Multi-Role Helicopters (MRH) at the U.S. Naval Air Station, North Island in San Diego. This will be the first major induction of helicopters by the Navy in decades for deployment on ships.
Meanwhile, it emerged last week there is a delay in the delivery of the second regiment of the S-400 long range air defence system from Russia, due to the Ukraine war. Russia has however assured India that it would deliver the two Talwar–class stealth frigates under construction there as per schedule, the first of which is scheduled to be delivered by mid–2023.
At a joint press conference in Washington following the 2+2, Mr. Blinken brought up human rights issues in India, saying, the U.S. was “monitoring some recent concerning developments in India, including a rise in human rights abuses by some government, police and prison officials”. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar later told reporters there was no discussion on human rights, and he noted that India too “will not be reticent” on speaking up on human rights issues “including in the U.S.”
In its 2021 Human Rights Report on India, reports G. Sampath, the U.S. State Department flagged concerns over arbitrary arrests and detentions, extra-judicial killings, violence against religious minorities, curbs on free expression and media, including unjustified prosecution of journalists, “overly restrictive laws” on funding of NGOs and civil society organisations, and “government harassment of domestic and international human rights organizations.”
In Washington, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had meetings with U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. According to the U.S. Government readout, Mr. Jaishankar and Ms. Tai took stock of India-U.S. trade ties, discussed the implications of the Russia-Ukraine war on global trade and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (a framework, proposed by the Biden administration, for economic cooperation in the region, on issues such as emerging technologies and supply chains).
The Hindu, in an editorial, noted that as human rights violations and apparent war crimes mount in the Ukraine war, India, which seeks recognition as a principled voice and responsible power on the global stage, may have to tread a fine line regarding its strategic backing of Russia. However, the U.S. position on India is no less delicate, as it relies on close ties and a strong record of bilateral cooperation with New Delhi to balance China’s aspiration to be and act as a regional hegemon.
The Top Five
What we are reading - the best of The Hindu’s Opinion and Analysis.
- Sushant Singh analyses, with all the attention currently on India-U.S. ties and the 2+2 dialogue, whether a quiet reset between India and China may be on the cards.
- Meera Srinivasan in Colombo explains Sri Lanka’s worsening debt crisis and how the island nation may overcome it.
- Also on Sri Lanka, Ahilan Kadirgamar writes on the choices it now faces as it stares at bankruptcy or redemption.
- Diksha Munjal writes on how the popularity of Rishi Sunak has plunged in the U.K. after a series of controversies.
- G. Sampath on the return of far-right populist Marine Le Pen in France, who will face Emmanuel Macron in an election run-off for the second straight time.
Neighbourhood Watch
People walk past the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in Washington, DC, on April 17, 2022. | Photo Credit: AFP
Ahead of the upcoming World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Spring meetings in Washington, Sri Lanka is seeking India’s assistance in garnering at least $3 billion in “bridging finance” from the international community. In a meeting with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday, Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to India Milinda Moragoda thanked India for its provision of $2.4 billion in credit lines for food, fuel and medicines, as well as a debt waiver for the first quarter.
Weeks after the visit of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Delhi, India has agreed to attend a virtual summit of leaders of the Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa grouping, likely to be held at the end of June. The dates of the meeting, that will see Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the same platform as Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and leaders of Brazil and South Africa for the first time since the Ukraine war began, are still being finalised, the sources said, although June 23-24 have been suggested as dates for the summit.
Seeking to ensure a more efficient and “whole-of-government” approach towards crises in the South Asian neighbourhood including Pakistan, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla convened the first meeting of an “Inter-Ministerial Coordination Group (IMCG)” involving secretaries of about 10 ministries as well as senior officials from the Cabinet Secretariat and National Security Council Secretariat.
Soon after he was elected as Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif in his inaugural speech raised the issue of abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir and alleged that the people in the Valley were “bleeding” and Pakistan will provide them with “diplomatic and moral support” besides raising the matter at every international fora. The 70-year-old leader, who replaced Imran Khan after a high voltage political tussle, said he wanted good relations with India, but it cannot be achieved without the resolution of the Kashmir issue.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi wished Pakistan’s new PM Shehbaz Sharif with a message of peace in a region “free of terror”. The comments from both leaders, while different from the period of no bilateral engagement between Indian and Pakistani leaders during the last few years of ousted PM Imran Khan’s tenure, indicated that both sides will maintain their positions on terrorism and Jammu and Kashmir respectively.
A sharp increase in India’s imports of Chinese goods in the first quarter of 2022 lifted bilateral trade by 15% to a record $31.96 billion, according to trade data released by China last week.As Shanghai reels under a wave of cases, a harsh lockdown and growing anger among its residents, President Xi Jinping once again backed his government’s “zero COVID” policy.
As Shanghai reels under a wave of cases, a harsh lockdown and growing anger among its residents, President Xi Jinping once again backed his government’s “zero COVID” policy.
Watch: How did China lockdown Shanghai, its financial centre and home to 26 million people?
The Hindu, in an editorial, said it is time China to reconsider its zero COVID strategy and follow science while opening up after more than two years of international isolation and growing economic and social costs at home.
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