As a top US lawmaker dealing with foreign relations asked Defence Secretary General Lloyd Austin to specifically raise democracy and human rights concerns in his discussions with the Indian government on his visit to New Delhi, the latter on Saturday, at a news conference in Delhi informed that he had a conversation with Indian Minsiters about the human rights of minorities in the country.
Besides issues like information sharing, cooperation in emerging sectors of defence, and mutual logistics support etc were discussed.
He said it is important for two partner countries to have such discussions in order to maintain strong, sustainable US-India relations.
When he was asked if he had spoken with Prime Minister Narendra Modi about "violations of human rights especially against Muslim minorities in the northeast", General Austin said, "I did not have an opportunity to talk with him about that. I did have a conversation with other members of the cabinet on this issue”, quoted NDTV.
Addressing the media, he said that you people might have heard US Presient Joe Biden saying that human rights and rule of law are very important to the United States of America. “We always lead with our values. As a democracy that's 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.
Earlier this, Lloyd Austin tweeted that his discussions in India would centre on cooperating to face "most pressing challenges" in the Indo-Pacific region where China's aggressive actions, from the Himalayas to the South China Sea are on the rise.
Austin is on a three-day visit to India starting Friday. Upon arrival, he had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. Before arriving in India, Austin had visited Japan and South Korea.
In addition, India and the US share close defence cooperation with Washington authorising over $20 billion in defence sales to India.
Austin met Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and US Defence Secretary Lloyd James Austin on Saturday and their talks mainly focussed on defence cooperation and expanding military-to-military engagement across services.
"We had a comprehensive and fruitful discussion with Secretary Austin and his delegation. We are keen to work together to realise the full potential of the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership," Singh said after the meeting.
Austin also expressed condolences for the tragic accident that killed an Indian Air Force pilot earlier this week.
"Our hearts go out to his family and friends. His death reminds us of the risks our brave service men and women take each day to defend our democracies, our people, and our way of life," Austin said.
The US Defence Secretary said that he had a productive discussion on a number of security issues which are important to both the countries.
He further added that Prime Minister Narendra has stated that India stands for "freedom of navigation and overflight, unimpeded lawful commerce, and adherence to international law".
"This is a resounding affirmation of our shared vision for regional security in the Indo-Pacific," he said.
Later in the day during a presser at the US Embassy in the national capital, Austin said that they never thought India and China were at the threshold of a war due to the tensions in Ladakh.
"India and US will continue to work with like-minded countries and that is the way to counter any challenge," he said.