India is a global strategic partner, says US as Antony Blinken leaves for New Delhi

"India is a global strategic partner of ours. We have a wide, broad, deep relationship with India. There will be a lot on the agenda in the bilateral relationship and in the multilateral engagements he takes part in on the margins of the G20," Ned Pric told reporters at his daily news conference on Monday.

The United States has affirmed that India is a significant global strategic partner as Secretary of State Antony Blinken left to attend several crucial meetings in New Delhi, including the G20 foreign ministers' meeting, Quad ministerial meeting and bilateral talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

According to the State Department Spokesperson, Ned Price, the relationship between the two countries is wide, broad and deep, and there is a lot to discuss on the bilateral and multilateral engagements Blinken will participate in on the margins of the G20. 

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"India is a global strategic partner of ours. We have a wide, broad, deep relationship with India. There will be a lot on the agenda in the bilateral relationship and in the multilateral engagements he takes part in on the margins of the G20," Ned Pric told reporters at his daily news conference on Monday.

"We share a vision with India of a free and open Indo-Pacific, and India is a key partner of ours bilaterally, in the context of the Quad as well as other international groupings, even as we've attempted to stitch together some of the partnerships in which India has been a key player,” he added.

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Also read | India-US Relations: The Blossoming of an Indispensable Partnership

The Quad is a coalition of Japan, India, Australia and the United States, created in 2017 to counter China's aggressive behavior in the Indo-Pacific region. China is embroiled in hotly contested territorial disputes in the South and East China Seas, and has made significant progress in militarizing its man-made islands in the past few years. While Beijing claims sovereignty over all of the South China Sea, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan have counterclaims. In the East China Sea, China has territorial disputes with Japan.

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Recently, there has been a lot of talk about a new partnership called I2U2, which involves India, the UAE, and the United States, with a number of elements on the agenda, including China and Russia. The spokesperson said that during the bilateral meetings, both Russia and China are expected to figure in talks. The Indian government firmly believes that this is not an era of war, and they have expressed concerns about Russia challenging the rules-based order, the principles of the UN Charter, the principles of international law, and the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These issues will be discussed with Indian partners, and they will also be on the agenda for and around the G20.

"You've heard very firmly from Prime Minister Modi the belief on the part of the Indian government that this is not an era of war. There are countries around the world, notably Russia, that are challenging the rules-based order, the principles of the UN Charter, the principles of international law, and the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We'll continue to discuss these issues with our Indian partners. I have no doubt that they'll be on the agenda for and around the G20,” Price said.

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He further said that India and the United States share a number of important interests and values, but their vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific region is the most critical, adding countries such as the People's Republic of China (PRC) have consistently challenged this vision in some ways, posing a systemic challenge. The G20 and the bilateral context will certainly discuss these issues without going into specifics, he added.

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