NEW DELHI: The issue of human rights and rights of minorities figured in talks between US defence secretary Lloyd Austin with Indian ministers.
“India is a great partner, and partners need to be able to have that kind of conversation in a meaningful way,” Austin said.
When asked whether he discussed with Prime Minister Narendra Modi the alleged violations of human rights, Austin said he did not have the opportunity to talk about it with him.
“I did not have an opportunity to talk with him about that. Having said that I did have a conversation with other members of the cabinet on this issue,” he told the select media briefing.
Austin, who is currently in India, held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, defence minister Rajnath Singh and foreign minister S Jaishankar.
According to sources, during his one-hour meeting with Jaishankar, Austin said as the two largest democracies in the world, human rights and values are important, and the US will lead with these values.
Jaishankar agreed and emphasised that a strong relationship between the two democracies was not only important for both countries but for the rest of the world.
Asked whether he shares concerns expressed by Senator Robert Menendez, chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on democracy and human rights issues in India, Austin referred to President Biden’s views on it.
“You have heard President Biden say that human rights and rule of law are important to the United States of America. We always lead with our values. As a democracy that is pretty important to us. India is a democratic country and you treasure your values as well. There are a number of things that we can and will work on together,” he said.
While democracy and human rights issues do not come under the domain of the Pentagon, Menendez, in a letter, urged Austin to raise these concerns during his meetings with Indian leaders.
Situation on the Chinese border, Indo-Pacific, Afghanistan also came up during the discussions.
The issue of further consolidating India-US defence ties through deeper military-to-military engagement came up in Austin’s talks with Rajnath Singh.
(With agency inputs)