New Delhi:
The twain shall meet, as they say.
US President Joe Biden had his strategic compulsions and thus to cut short on
'military engagement' with Beijing, he held first virtual meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping for three and a half hours on Tuesday.
It is generally expected that now that the ice has been broken, the downward decline in US-China relationship
would stop, but it is no one's case that one summit would bring the two nations back to the good old days.
The two leaders had spoken twice over telephone earlier this year, but there had been no formal
summit before Tuesday’s meeting.
There were tough talks and use of select phrases.
“It is playing with fire, and if you play with fire, you will get burned,” the Chinese readout quoted President
Xi as having stated over US support to Taiwan.
"Xi warns US over support for Taiwan secessionism," screamed a 'Global Times' headline.
For his part, President Biden was "clear about the need to protect American workers and industries from the
China unfair trade and economic practices".
Biden also spoke about violations of human rights by China. “President Biden raised concerns about
the PRC’s practices in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong, as well as human rights more broadly,”
the White House said in a statement.
A report by AP news agency said: "Both Biden and Xi seemed determined to lower the temperature in
what for both sides is their most significant — and frequently turbulent — relationship on the global stage".
Biden told Xi Jinping at the start of the meeting: “As I’ve said before, it seems to me our responsibility as
leaders of China and the United States is to ensure that the competition between our countries does
not veer into conflict, whether intended or unintended".
"The positive tone sets an example for officials in both countries to try to identify common ground
rather than find fault with each other, whether on trade, climate change, or geopolitical issues such
as Afghanistan and North Korea," said Wang Huiyao, president of the Center for China and Globalization,
in Beijing, according to a AP report.
“I see this dialogue as a stabilizer of the bilateral relation,” he said.
US envoy on Afghanistan visits Delhi: America concerned on Indo-Russia ties
New Delhi:
The US is aware of the global significance of India and hence is taking steps
cautiously though at times Washington may find keeping the balance tough.
With Afghanistan requiring a new approach, newly appointed US Special Representative for Afghanistan, Thomas West, visited New Delhi on Tuesday, November 16.
Sources say he called on NSA Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary Harsh V Shringla.
"Discussions focused on the current developments in Afghanistan and topics discussed
included the recently held Regional Security Dialogue of NSAs on Afghanistan in New Delhi," a source told
'Organiser'.
Besides the movement of people in and out of Afghanistan, coordinating global efforts on humanitarian
assistance to Afghanistan, regional security issues, and other bilateral and international issues of
mutual interest also figured prominently.
"Foreign Secretary @harshvshringla met US Special Representative for Afghanistan Thomas West
@US4AfghanPeace and exchanged views on recent developments and issues of common interest in
Afghanistan," MEA spokesman Arindam Bagchi tweeted.
US concerned by Russian S400 arriving India:
Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby.has said that the US has "concerns" over Russian S400 system
reaching India.
"....but I don’t have any updates,” he said.
The specialised defence system costing between $4 billion and $5.3 billion have started arriving in India.
Kirby said that Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin had talked about it with Indian officials when he visited India
in March.
The 2017 US law, Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), requires Washington
to sanction those buying Russian military equipment.
The Americans have imposed sanctions on its NATO ally Turkey for buying the S400 system.
But India has a global significance strategically. Moreover, India is now a key partner of the US
in the Indo-Pacific region where China angle is a vital challenge.
In April, Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters in Delhi in presence of External Affairs
Minister Dr S Jaishankar that, "I didn’t see any changes from our Indian partners and friends… ..
We have a governmental committee on military-technical cooperation that has its own plans".
Both New Delhi and Moscow are now eyeing towards the India-Russia Annual Summit for which President
Vladimir Putin is scheduled to visit India.
The India-Russia Summit meet are held alternately in both the countries. However, in 2020, the meet was
cancelled due to Covid19. The Summit has been taking place regularly since 2000.
ends
No comments:
Post a Comment