Pompeo, Mattis prepares to meet senior Indian officials

NEW DELHI (AP) – US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary James Mattis are expected to hold long discussions with senior Indian officials on Thursday, seeking to consolidate the alliance with one of the main Washington regional allies.

The so-called "2 + 2" talks, which are expected to last only a few hours and focus on strategic and security issues, are in a series of problems, including Washington's demands to stop buying Iranian oil and a Russian air defense system. There is also information that President Donald Trump would have imitated privately the focus of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

But with the rapid development of trade and strategic relations between the United States and India, the two countries have been keen to minimize potential diplomatic problems.

"Freedom means that sometimes nations do not agree," Mattis told reporters as he was traveling to India, questioned about India's plans to buy a sophisticated system of Russian air defense. "It does not mean we can not be partners, it does not mean we do not respect the sovereignty of these nations."

The purchase of the S-400 ground-to-air missile system could trigger US sanctions against India.

But C. Raja Mohan, one of the leading analysts of Indian foreign policy and director of the South Asian Studies Institute of the National University of Singapore, noted that the relations between New Delhi and Washington have been significantly strengthened over the last two decades. diplomatic pressure on the main rivals of India, Pakistan and China, which earned him a lot of goodwill.

He assumes that both countries want a way out of the Russian missile system.

"India does not want to destroy the relationship with the S-400," he said. He also downplayed information in the US and Indian media that Trump has imitated Modi's focus in meetings with his senior officials.

Mr. Modi, he noted, was for a long time the main person in charge of the Indian state of Gujarat to which he refused an American visa because of accusations that he did not repress enough the riots between Hindus and Muslims of 2002.

"This government is pragmatic," said Mohan. Modi "saw a lot worse than people making fun of his accent".

The India-US "2 + 2" Talks, so-called because they include the highest diplomatic and military officials of both countries, have been postponed twice, the last time Pompeo was sent in July for talks in North Korea.

Pompeo met Pakistan's new Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday in Islamabad. Mr. Khan later stated that he was optimistic about the possibility of restoring relations with Washington after the United States had interrupted aid payments for Islamabad's alleged refusal to fight the country's militants. .