US Secretary of State met Foreign Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday, June 26, in New Delhi as part of his three-day state visit to strengthen bilateral cooperation. Pompeo also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The meeting with Jaishankar marked the framework for upcoming talks between US President Donald Trump and Modi at the G20 summit in Japan later this week.
A range of contentious issues including trade, energy, regional security and terrorism as well as defence was discussed in the meeting.
Zero tolerance for terrorism
S Jaishankar said that India holds zero tolerance for cross-border terrorism. He also mentioned PM Modi's initiative of organizing a global conference on the issue and called for US' participation.
Pompeo cited the Sri Lankan blasts as a projection of the state of terrorism in the region and promised India of providing the intelligence information in the future.
On the issue of warning issued by the US regarding the 'risk of triggering CAATSA [Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act] sanctions, Jaishankar said 'it is important that we display trust in each other" and cited liberalization of laws and regulations pertaining to defence equipment and technology.
Pompeo also responded similarly by stating that ties between the two countries are "stronger than before" and that the US believes that they will find a "common ground" while maintaining good bilateral relations with each other.
Calling the recent tensions as "individual perspectives," Jaishankar called for "harmonizing interests" and said that both the governments will work harder in achieving common interests through better diplomatic cooperation.
Trade-off
On the issue of receding trade relations between the two countries, government officials responded by stating that both the countries share good economic relations and are optimistic that certain disagreements can be resolved.
"US is our largest trade partner as well as a source for key investments. As both economies are growing strongly, new opportunities created by new demand have come up. We are optimistic about where our economies are growing and where it will go," said Jaishankar at the press meeting.
He also mentioned 'People-to-People" and called academicians, PIO, non-residents, business persons, technology professionals as contributors to what makes US-India ties "unique".
Pompeo, however, mentioned China's Belt and Road Initiative and stressed upon the importance of regional stability in the Indo-Pacific region against the lure of "energy, digital and infrastructure development without relinquishing nation's sovereignty."
