India, US reiterate working towards secure Indo-Pacific & advance peace in Afghanistan

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday discussed ways to strengthen the relationship between US and India in order to work towards peace, prosperity and security in the Indo-Pacific region and in Afghanistan. The two leaders also reiterated their commitment to fighting Covid-19 pandemic which has taken the world hostage.

"Great speaking with Indian Minister of External Affairs Dr S Jaishankar about the US-India relationship and our work to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. We remain united to advance peace in Afghanistan, and to a secure and sovereign Indo-Pacific in which all countries can prosper," Pompeo said after his call with Jaishankar.

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The two leaders agreed to continue close cooperation on a range of issues pertaining to regional and international prominence and look forward to Quadrilateral consultations and the US-India 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue later this year, Principal Deputy Spokesperson, US State Department Cale Brown said in a statement.

Pompeo had recently spoken about the Chinese aggression on the South China sea which has ramifications on the Indo-Pacific waters, an international water body, and the formation of the Quad group to counter the Chinese aggression, coupled with the ASEAN nations having a similar say on the issue.

"We're proud to have stepped up maritime manoeuvres in that body of water alongside friends like Australia, India, Japan, and the UK," he said. He said all 10 ASEAN nations have insisted that the South China Sea disputes must be settled on the basis of international law, including UNCLOS. 

China has been facing a flurry of criticisms from the international fora over the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic originating from its soil and its discreet way of handling the pandemic to allow its spread across the world. To add to it, Chinese aggression in the Indo Pacific waters by claiming sovereignty over the South China sea plus its violent aggression in Eastern Ladakh along the LAC with India has made many who share a border with China via land or sea, turn against the country. Besides the gross human rights violation of China by imposing the draconian national security law in Hong Kong threatening the autonomy of the city, and the genocide of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang province has invited harsh reactions and criticisms from the international fora and brought the world's attention to the Chinese malpractices.

Also, the world is taking note of the security threat that the Chinese tech giants such as Huawei pose to the entire world by spying over other nations, hence Huawei has been officially barred by the US from the telecommunications and developmental projects and the other nations have also advised their 5G developers to chose alternatives to Huawei, citing security issues.

With regards to the peace process in Afghanistan, Mike Pompeo and Taliban deputy leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar had discussed the start of the intra-Afghan talks over a recent video call.

Also Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan, Mohammad Haneef Atmar met with Vinay Kumar, Indian Ambassador to Kabul, on Monday afternoon wherein the two sides deliberated importance of further strengthening regional consensuses on the Afghan peace process.

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