EAM Dr S Jaishankar with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken  |  Photo Credit: Twitter
New Delhi: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Indian counterpart S Jaishankar on the sidelines of the Quad Ministerial in Melbourne and discussed the current situation in Afghanistan, diplomatic efforts in the Russia-Ukraine crisis and the latest developments in the COVID-19 outbreak.
They also discussed placing Myanmar back on the path to democracy and efforts to strengthen Indo-Pacific cooperation through Quad and expansion of cooperation on common priorities, including reinforcing the rules-based international order.
Blinken and Jaishankar met in Melbourne, Australia on the sidelines of the 4th Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and reviewed the progress made over the past year in broadening and deepening the Indo-US strategic partnership.
On Friday, Jaishankar tweeted, “A review of our bilateral cooperation with @SecBlinken. The readout on progress in different domains was positive. Our strategic partnership has deepened so visibly.”
“Good meeting with Indian External Affairs Minister @DrSJaishankar to discuss efforts to strengthen #IndoPacific cooperation bilaterally and through the Quad. I look forward to working together on issues that affect our two countries,” Blinken had tweeted.
During the meeting, both leaders complemented each other for a “grateful partnership” between the US and India during the COVID-19 pandemic and called Quad an “opportunity and the excuse to be able to compare notes directly on the many challenges both countries are dealing together.”
The US State Secretary further called the 4th Quad meeting an “opportunity for us to see each other and looking forward to getting together with our colleagues as well in a couple of hours.”
Responding to Blinken’s comments, Jaishankar laid stress on the strong bilateral relationships between the two countries.
“We have made Quad into concrete actionable propositions. At the same time, a big part of that is because we have such strong bilateral relationships. And certainly for us in this century, the changing India-US relationship has been very defining,” said Jaishankar.