[ad_1]
NEW DELHI (AP) – US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary James Mattis have had long-standing talks with senior Indian officials seeking to cement the alliance with one of Washington's main regional partners.
The so-called "2 + 2" discussions were to last a few hours and focus on strategic and security topics. They came in the midst of a series of conflicting issues, including Washington's demands that India stop buying Iranian oil and a Russian air defense system and that the president Donald Trump has 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 India-US "2 + 2" talks – have called this because they include the highest diplomatic and military officials from both countries – have been postponed twice, the last time Pompeo was sent in July for talks in North Korea.
Pompeo and Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj met separately on Thursday before joining senior defense officials for talks.
"India places the highest priority on its strategic partnership with the US We see the United States as our partner of choice," said Swaraj in his opening remarks.
Pompeo said that the United States appreciated his relations with India and noted that "we fully support the rise of India".
Mattis and India's Minister of Defense Nirmala Sithataman also met separately before joining the other two leaders for talks.
Sitharaman, in his opening remarks, said that defense cooperation has been imposed as one of the most important dimensions of the relationship between countries.
"We have acquired various advanced defense platforms from the United States, so we are partners in developing defense capabilities in the broadest sense of the term," she said.
She also said that both countries are setting a framework for closer cooperation between their armed forces and defense establishments. She urged US companies to become active partners in India's efforts to promote the local defense industry.
"Today, our partnership has become one of the most important in the region and in the world," said Mattis.
The United States and India, he said, have already pledged to "a prosperous, safe and free Indo-Pacific region where the sovereignty of all nations is respected, international standards respected, disputes resolved waters and airspace. "
He recalled Modi's words that nations should be free from the impossible debt burden caused by others.
There are, however, some stumbling blocks, including the purchase of the Russian S-400 ground-to-air missile system, which 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 US-Indian trade has grown considerably over the past two decades. diplomatic pressure on the main rivals of India, Pakistan and China, which is worth 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".
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. .
