Jaishankar, Blinken discuss Indo-China border situation
External affairs minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar discussed the current situation on the Sino-Indian border in the Ladakh sector with his US counterpart, secretary of state Antony J. Blinken, in Washington on late Friday night (early Saturday morning IST), with the US saying it was watching the situation closely and was concerned about “some of China’s problematic activities in the region”. The situation in Myanmar and Afghanistan was also discussed. Covid cooperation also figured prominently at the meeting, with the US
saying it had redirected one of its own orders of critical vaccine manufacturing supplies, which will allow India to make over 20 million additional doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine. India is also eyeing a substantial chunk of
a separate 80 million doses of vaccines which the US plans to donate to other countries.
Mr Blinken termed USIndia ties as “vital, strong, and increasingly productive” and also reiterated the American commitment to deepening the USIndia Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership and “discussed a broad range of issues, including Covid-19 relief, efforts to strengthen Indo-Pacific cooperation through the Quad”. He added, “We remember in the earlier days of Covid, India was there for the US, something we’ll never forget, and now we want to make sure that we’re there for and with India.”
EAM Jaishankar, who wrapped up his five-day official visit to the US, thanked the US for the Covid relief material worth about $100 million provided to India.
US state department’s acting assistant secretary Dean Thompson said, “On China, we’ve shared concerns about some of China’s problematic activities in the region, and have become increasingly likeminded on these issues... There were some just discussions of developments on the IndiaChina border. I’m not going to characterise the discussions beyond that other than to say we continue to watch the situation very closely and hope that everything can be resolved peaceably as things go forward.”