US Secretary of Defence Llyod Austin meets PM Modi, NSA Doval

US Secretary of Defence Gen Lloyd J Austin on Friday commended India’s leadership role in the Indo-Pacific region as he called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and held discussions with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval initiating the high-level engagements with the Joe Biden Administration.

“Secretary Austin commended India’s leadership role in the Indo-Pacific and growing engagement with like-minded partners across the region to promote shared goals,” said a readout issued by the US Embassy.

Also read: US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin meets Ajit Doval, calls on PM Modi

“The two sides reaffirmed their commitment to promote a free and open regional order. Both sides exchanged perspectives on shared challenges confronting the region and committed to further strengthen their broad ranging and robust defence cooperation.”

On Saturday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh would be holding ministerial talks with Gen Austin focussing on bilateral relations and regional security. The Sino-Indian border tension and Afghan peace processes are likely to be discussed in the bilateral meeting.

Soon after his meeting with Gen Austin, Prime Minister Modi tweeted, “Pleasure to meet US @SecDef Lloyd Austin today. Conveyed my best wishes to @POTUS @JoeBiden India and US are committed to our strategic partnership that is a force for global good.”

Gen Austin’s visit came days after the top leadership of the Quad grouping of India, the US, Japan and Australia vowed to expand their cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region.

Sources said India's plan to procure 30 Predator combat UAVs from the US at an estimated cost of over $ 3 billion might come up in the talks. The medium-altitude long-endurance armed drones, manufactured by General Atomics, are capable of remaining airborne for 35 hours and can hunt down targets at land and sea.

The US eyes India's plan to acquire 114 fighter jets at a cost of around $ 18 billion with keen interest as two US aviation majors – Boeing and Lockheed Martin – have participated in the global tender to manufacture these jets in India.

Also read: Lloyd Austin on mission to deepen India-US ties, urged to raise Russia deal

A thorny issue, however, is India’s procurement of the Russian S-400 missile defence system ignoring a warning from the Donald Trump administration that had warned that going ahead with the contract might invite US sanctions. In October 2018, India signed a $ 5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 air defence missile systems.