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NEW DELHI: Indo-Pacific and Quad cooperation, Chinese assertiveness in the region, counterterrorism, connectivity with focus on the recently launched India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) and other global and regional issues like the situation in West Asia and the Russia-Ukraine war dominated the 2+2 talks on Friday.
Expectedly, the Israel-Hamas conflict found prominent mention in a joint statement that noted the “horrific” terrorist attacks against Israel and had the ministers reiterating that India and the US stood with Israel against terrorism, and seeking immediate release of all hostages.To balance out, they also called for adherence to internationalhumanitarian law and protection of civilians.
“They expressed support for humanitarian pauses and committed to continue close diplomatic coordination, including with key partners in the region, to prevent the conflict from spreading, preserve stability in the Middle East, and work toward a political solution and durable peace,” the joint statement said as it emphasised the importance of humanitarian aid to meet the urgent needs of civilians in Gaza.The support for humanitarian pauses is significant as the US had earlier voted against a resolution in the UNGA for a humanitarian truce and India had abstained from voting on it because the resolution didn’t condemn the terror attacks on Israel.
In talks with secretary of state Antony Blinken and secretary of defence Lloyd Austin, foreign minister S Jaishankar and defence minister Rajnath Singh also underscored India’s support for early resumption of talks for a two-state solution, zero tolerance to terrorism and international humanitarian law.
Jaishankar said the agenda covered advancing the strategic partnership, including efforts to elevate defence ties, space and technology, future logistics cooperation and people-to-people contacts.
Expectedly, the Israel-Hamas conflict found prominent mention in a joint statement that noted the “horrific” terrorist attacks against Israel and had the ministers reiterating that India and the US stood with Israel against terrorism, and seeking immediate release of all hostages.To balance out, they also called for adherence to internationalhumanitarian law and protection of civilians.
“They expressed support for humanitarian pauses and committed to continue close diplomatic coordination, including with key partners in the region, to prevent the conflict from spreading, preserve stability in the Middle East, and work toward a political solution and durable peace,” the joint statement said as it emphasised the importance of humanitarian aid to meet the urgent needs of civilians in Gaza.The support for humanitarian pauses is significant as the US had earlier voted against a resolution in the UNGA for a humanitarian truce and India had abstained from voting on it because the resolution didn’t condemn the terror attacks on Israel.
In talks with secretary of state Antony Blinken and secretary of defence Lloyd Austin, foreign minister S Jaishankar and defence minister Rajnath Singh also underscored India’s support for early resumption of talks for a two-state solution, zero tolerance to terrorism and international humanitarian law.
Jaishankar said the agenda covered advancing the strategic partnership, including efforts to elevate defence ties, space and technology, future logistics cooperation and people-to-people contacts.
While expressing concern over the war in Ukraine and its impact on the Global South, the ministers pledged to continue humanitarian assistance to the people of Ukraine and agreed on the need for post-conflict reconstruction in Ukraine. The ministers also discussed progress under the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) in both commercial and defence sectors, before it comes up for a review in January by the NSAs.
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