'Issue of human rights of minorities discussed with Indian ministers'

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin on Saturday said he discussed the issue of human rights of minorities in India with the Union ministers here while noting that partners need to be able to have such exchangesReplying to a question on the SinoIndia border row in eastern Ladakh at a media briefing Austin also said that the US never thought that India and China were at the threshold of a warWhen asked whether he discussed with Prime Minister Narendra Modi the alleged violations of human rights particularly against minorities in India Austin said he did not have the opportunity to talk about it with himI 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 briefingI think we have to remember that India is our partner whose partnership we value And I think partners need to be able to have those kinds of discussions And certainly we feel comfortable in doing that and you can have those discussions in a very meaningful way and still make progress the US Defence Secretary saidEarlier in the day Austin held extensive talks with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh during which they resolved to further consolidate IndiaUS defence ties through deeper militarytomilitary engagement with the US describing the partnership Later he met External Affairs Minister S JaishankarAccording to sources during his onehour 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 valuesJaishankar agreed and emphasised that a strong relationship between the two democracies was not only important for both countries but for the rest of the worldAsked 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 Bidens views on itYou 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 saidWhile 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 leadersTo a separate question on whether the US in any point of time thought that an war between India and China was imminent he said never No to my knowledge We have never considered that India and China are on the threshold of war Secretary Austin repliedAsked about ways to counter Chinas aggressive behaviour the US Defence Secretary said Washington will continue to work with likeminded countries like India Australia Japan and others in the regionWe are doing the right things to promote peace and stability in the region We really work together to ensure a free and open IndoPacific region Working together with like minded countries who have shared interests is the way to check any aggression in any region You can look forward to us to continue to do that he saidAustin flew into India on Friday as part of his threenation first overseas tour that signalled the Biden administrations strong commitment to its relations with its close allies and partners in the IndoPacific region He visited Japan and South Korea before arriving here On Friday Austin called on Prime Minister Modi and held talks with National Security Advisor Ajit DovalThe sources said discussions during JaishankarAustin meeting focused on the strategic situation in the IndoPacific and the US side briefed about the recent visits in East AsiaJaishankar spoke about Indias current security challenges and its long term strategic outlook Conversation also covered changing global scenarios including Europe and West Asia the sources saidThey said Afghanistan was addressed in some detail and assessments were exchanged on the peace process and the ground situation as also the concerns and interests of regional powers and neighboursJaishankar appreciated the Biden administrations engagement with India on this issue the sources saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever