India Visit By US Defence Secretary Lloyd J. Austin Will Start Today
Lloyd J. Austin, the US defence secretary, is scheduled to arrive in India on Sunday to begin the third phase of his four-nation tour.
He will fly out of Singapore and arrive in New Delhi where he will meet with Rajnath Singh, the defence minister, to discuss expanding the defense-industrial collaboration.
Given that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be making a state visit to the White House in June, this visit is very important.
Austin travelled to Singapore for the Shangri-La Dialogue, but his first destination was Tokyo, where he met with Yasukasu Hamada, the Japanese defence minister, and other key officials before visiting US troops stationed there.
After leaving Japan, he took a flight to Singapore, where he delivered plenary remarks at the 20th Shangri-La Dialogue of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
He also participated in significant bilateral discussions to advance US ties in the area while he was in Singapore.
The main goals of Austin’s visit to New Delhi will be to advance US-Indian initiatives for industrial and defence collaboration as well as to continue the efforts to increase operational cooperation between the US and Indian militaries.
When describing the Defence Secretary’s trip, the Pentagon stated, “After Singapore, Secretary Austin will visit New Delhi to meet with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and other leaders as the United States and India continue to modernise the US-India Major Defence Partnership.”
This visit offers a chance to further ongoing efforts to increase operational cooperation between the Indian and American forces as well as new defence innovation and industrial partnership initiatives.
The US Defence Secretary expressed excitement about his upcoming trip to four countries: Japan, Singapore, India, and France. Together with our friends and partners, we have advanced our shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific over the last year, making ground-breaking accomplishments.
A strong Congressional Committee has suggested enhancing NATO Plus by incorporating India soon before PM Modi’s visit to the US. This action is meant to discourage China.
The committee to win the “strategic competition with the Chinese Communist Party” has proposed including India in the five-member group.
Currently, NATO Plus 5 is a security partnership between NATO and five allies—Australia, Japan, Israel, New Zealand, and South Korea—that aims to strengthen international defence cooperation.
According to NewsonAir, if India were to join NATO Plus, it would be possible to facilitate seamless intelligence sharing between these countries and India and have quick access to cutting-edge military technologies.
After a meeting on May 24, the US House Select Committee on the Strategic Rivalry between the US and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) came to a unanimous conclusion. The committee unveiled a strategy plan that would strengthen NATO Plus by including India in order to increase Taiwan’s deterrence capabilities.
Secretary Austin will complete his four-nation tour in France, where he will attend celebrations honouring the 79th anniversary of D-Day and have meetings with the heads of defence of France and the United Kingdom.
