U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin with Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi. File photograph
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will embark on a four-nation journey together with India from subsequent week, in keeping with the official assertion launched by the US Department of Defence. The first cease in his four-nation journey is Tokyo the place he’ll meet with Japanese Defence Minister Yasukasu Hamada and different senior leaders and go to U.S. troops stationed in Japan.
The go to precedes Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official state go to to White House subsequent month.
According to the assertion, Secretary Austin’s go to comes because the United States and Japan take vital strides to modernise Alliance capabilities, optimise U.S. pressure posture, and construct hyperlinks with like-minded companions following the historic US-Japan “2+2” Ministerial assembly earlier this yr.
Later on, Mr. Austin will journey to Singapore the place he’ll ship plenary remarks on the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) twentieth Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
On the margins of the Dialogue, the Secretary will meet with key leaders to advance US defence partnerships throughout the area in help of our shared imaginative and prescient for a free and open Indo-Pacific, anchored in ASEAN centrality.
After finishing his journey to Singapore, Mr. Austin will go to India. At the third cease in New Delhi, he’ll meet with Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and different leaders because the United States and India proceed to modernise the US-India Major Defence Partnership.
This go to gives a chance to speed up new defence innovation and industrial cooperation initiatives and drive ongoing efforts to increase operational cooperation between the U.S. and Indian militaries.
Secretary Austin will conclude his journey in France to take part in occasions commemorating the 79th anniversary of D-Day and meet with French and United Kingdom defence leaders.
Source: www.thehindu.com
