Rubio holds delegation-level talks with EAM Jaishankar, focuses on "strategic" India-US partnership

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held delegation-level talks with External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar on the second day of his India visit, wherein he focused on "strategic" ties between Washington and New Delhi. In the opening remarks, he highlighted that the partnership between the two countries is one of the most important in the world.

"We have a lot to discuss and a lot to work on.. We are the two largest democracies in the world, and so that alone is a baseline for incredible cooperation. We have so many common interests that it makes all the sense in the world for us to continue to build upon," Rubio said, adding that the partnership is one of the most important ones the US has, and one of the most important ones in the world.

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Amid reports of the meeting seen as a step to restore India-US ties, he said, "This is not about restoring or reinvigorating. I've seen people use that terminology. This is about continuing to build on what is already a very solid and strong strategic partnership."

Reiterating his stance on India-US relationship, he said. "the United States and India aren't just allies; we're strategic allies, and that's of critical importance. We obviously work with countries all over the world and all over the region on a variety of issues as they emerge, but our strategic partnership is what sets this relationship apart, because it's not simply limited to a region. It extends to opportunities to cooperate globally in different regions of the world, and that includes potentially in the Western Hemisphere and places like that."

EAM Jaishankar asserted that the ties between New Delhi and Washington impact and influce other regions and the world because the two countries have converging interests on many issues and in many parts of the world.

In his opening remarks during the delegation-level talks, he said, "These are complicated times, but, as strong partners, I'm very confident we'll have very open and productive discussions."

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During the first day of his visit to India, Rubio held a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, wherein the two leaders discussed a wide-ranging agenda dominated by energy security, trade tensions, defence cooperation and Indo-Pacific strategy.

He briefed PM Modi on the growing momentum in India-US cooperation across a broad strategic landscape, with discussions spanning defence collaboration, emerging technologies, trade and investment, energy security, connectivity initiatives, education partnerships and expanding people-to-people ties between the two countries.