Defense Secretary Austin confident India-US strategic partnership will reach new heights.
India and the US have agreed to re-establish their Homeland Security Dialogue to discuss important issues such as cybersecurity, emerging technology and addressing violent extremism.
The agreement to re-establish the dialogue was announced after US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas spoke on Monday with India’s Ambassador to the United States, Taranjit Singh Sandhu.
Mayorkas expressed his desire to further strengthen the partnership between the Government of India and the Department of Homeland Security, according to a readout of the discussions issued by the Department of Homeland Security.
During their discussion, Mayorkas and Sandhu highlighted “the positive engagement” that has already taken place between the two countries since President Joe Biden took office
This included the first summit-level meeting of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, known as the Quad, between the US, India Japan and Australia.
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The Quad, according to the readout addressed concrete commitments to cooperate on Covid-19, climate actions, and cybersecurity.
Mayorkas and Sandhu also recognized the important contributions of students and entrepreneurs that have made both countries stronger, it said.
India had US had welcomed efforts to “reinvigorate” the dialogue between the Department of Homeland Security and India’s Ministry of Home Affairs at the last 2+2 dialogue of their foreign and defense ministers in New Delhi in 2020.
Meanwhile, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III has expressed confidence that “India-US strategic partnership will reach new heights as we advance new areas of cooperation, including space & cyber domains.”
“The US-India Major Defense Partnership is a stronghold of a free & open Indo-Pacific,” he tweeted after a “productive meeting” with Indian Defense Minister Raj Nath Singh in New Delhi on March 20.
“Had a productive meeting with @RajnathSingh,” he wrote. “I am confident our strategic partnership will reach new heights as we advance new areas of cooperation, including space & cyber domains.”
Welcoming the meeting, Chrissy Houlahan, Democratic Representative from Pennsylvania’s 6th District in Congress, tweeted, “More than ever, we know our transnational partnerships create a vital foundation for our national security and prosperity.
“With a new Administration, comes newfound opportunities to strengthen these ties with our allies,” she wrote. “Glad to see @SecDef prioritizing these relationships.”