Secretary of State Anthony Blinken finished up his India visit today with a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Blinken brought greetings from President Biden and Vice President Harris. A statement issued by the Indian side said “The prime minister noted that the India-U.S. Strategic Partnership will be of even greater global significance in the coming years, in the context of the challenges posed by COVID-19, global economic recovery and climate change.”
Blinken also brought up at least two substantive issues: First, Blinken emphasized that the U.S. will remain “very much engaged in Afghanistan” — including on the security front. He stated his concern about the future of that country, and reportedly expressed American unhappiness about China’s large and growing role in Afghanistan in the aftermath of the American withdrawal. Blinken, like the British, is attempting to play upon India’s historic tensions with China to maintain geopolitical tensions in the region. To send a strong signal to the Chinese, Blinken also met with a close associate of the Dalai Lama, which the Chinese will find diplomatically offensive.
Second, Blinken had broad discussions with both Modi and Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar, about the Quad alliance of the U.S., India, Australia and Japan, which the State Department has cultivated in the region to counter Chinese influence.
At a press conference following his meeting with Jaishankar, Blinken laid out his purpose: “There are few relationships in the world that are more vital than the one between the United States and India. We are two of the world’s leading democracies, and our diversity fuels our national strength. We are two of the world’s largest economies powered by the innovative spirit of our people,” Blinken said. Blinken was also asked about the specific purpose of the Quad. “What the Quad is, is actually quite simple, but as important as it is simple. For like-minded countries – India, the United States, Japan, Australia – coming together to work collectively on some of the most important issues of our time that are going to have a real impact on the lives of our people, and to do it in a way that hopefully ensures a free and open Indo-Pacific region and peace, security, and prosperity for the people of that region…. What the Quad is not is a military alliance; it is not that. Its purpose is, again, just to advance cooperation on regional challenges while reinforcing international rules and values that we believe, together, underpin peace, prosperity, and stability in the region,” he insisted.
Jaishankar also tried to play down any strategic or military purpose for the Quad. Stating that India has interests in the Indo-Pacific region he said, “that in this small, complicated world with a lot of new challenges, when we talk about rebalancing … for groups of countries to work together is not strange.”
