MEA Jaishankar to give China a strong message at India-US forum in New Delhi

The sixth instalment of India-US Forum will take place in India’s capital New Delhi from 13 January to 14 January. In his opening address at the forum meeting, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will deliver China a strong message on its assertive behaviour in the Indo-Pacific. New Delhi would want US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to speak his mind out on Beijing’s growing aggression in the Indo-Pacific. Jaishankar will stress on the need to have a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific where there is respect for international law, freedom of navigation, territorial integrity and sovereignty, and obviously peaceful settlement of disputes, sources told The Daily Guardian. 

This way Jaishankar would be sending out a strong signal to China on the need to respect territorial integrity and sovereignty of the other countries. Blinken is also expected to issue a similar message to China, as India and US do share concerns about Beijing’s illegal activities and aggression in the Indo-Pacific and South China Sea, sources added.    

 The meeting will be addressed by both Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Some other top officials from both sides will also be addressing the meeting. The two-day meet will be convened by Ananta Centre and India’s Ministry of External Affairs. Other officials who are scheduled to speak at the forum include Deputy National Security Advisor Vikram Misri, Senior Director for Defence, White House National Security Council Cara Abercrombie, Assistant Secretary, South and Central Asian Affairs, Department of State, among others. 

All the meetings will be held under the Chatham House Rules and this year both sides will cover topics like Indo-Pacific, RussiaUkraine and AfghanistanPakistan relations, official sources said.  Apart from this, areas like defence production, emerging technology, data governance and G20 will also be discussed. 

Formed in 2017, the purpose of the India-US forum is to strengthen the cooperation between India and US by bringing more than 100 representatives from both countries to discuss a range of topics.