Afghanistan, China key focus during US deputy secretary of state Wendy Sherman- FS Shringla talks in Delhi

New Delhi: The situation in Afghanistan and Chinese aggressive actions were among the key focus areas during the conversation between US Deputy Secretary of state Wendy Sherman and Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla. This was the first visit by any senior Biden admin official to India after the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the US that saw bilateral with US President and Quad meeting.

Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla at US-India Business Council or USIBC event, sitting alongside US Deputy Secretary of state said, "There is an organic growth and momentum in the bilateral relations, given the deep stakes and investments in India-US relations by a multitude of stakeholders on both sides" and "this relationship is one of our most important. India considers its relationship with US of paramount importance". 

The visit essentially starts the more sectoral meetings between the two countries. The Defense Policy Group, Economic and Financial Partnership dialogue, Trade Policy Forum, dialogues on counter-terrorism and designations and the 2+2 Ministerial which will take place soon. The Indian Finance Minister and the Defence secretary will visit the country soon.

Calling partnership between US and India "indispensable", Wendy Sherman at USIBC event explained, "many of the challenges we face...can't be solved by anyone nation alone. It takes, it will take the 2 largest democracies in the world, India and the US to meet those challenges". 

Commenting on Afghanistan during the meeting, both saw "meetings of mind" and while legitimacy to the Taliban did came up during talks, unlikely that Washington is going take any call as the situation is still evolving. Taliban has gone back on many of its words, including announcement on government that is non inclusive--with no representation of women and minorities such as Hazaras.

Linked with Afghanistan, Pakistan's support to terror remained New Delhi's concern with the US had a good understanding off. Sources pointed out that, "India and US are speaking from the same page" when it comes to Islamabad's continued support of terrorism. The Indian side also made a mention of how terror groups from Pakistan are moving into Afghan territories. Fears remain that Afghanistan could become a terror safe haven under Taliban rule. Of the more than 30 members of Taliban cabinet, 17 are on the United Nation terror list.

China was also part of the discussion between the two sides. New Delhi gave its assessment, particularly on Line of actual control developments, while US discussed talks in Geneva, and its policy towards Beijing-- the 3C--compete, cooperate and challenge. The talks also saw some discussion on the India-South Africa proposal on patent wavier on Covid vaccines at WTO, for which Washington reiterated its support. Interestingly, there was no mention of the AUKUS deal between US, UK and Australia which riled up France. Under the deal, Australia gets nuclear submarines, a development that comes amidst aggressive China.

In Delhi, the US Deputy secretary of state also met India's external affairs minister Dr S Jaishankar and NSA Ajit Doval. A state dept readout said, "They discussed regional developments, including in Afghanistan, Myanmar, and the People’s Republic of China".

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