The US and France have “very strong interests” in strengthening their respective relationships with India even more, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said, while not stepping into the “specific hypotheticals” of a future nautilus alliance between New Delhi and Paris.
Blinken was responding to an issue on would the US welcome a nautilus alliance between India and France because the Quad Leaders’ Summit gets underway. He was also asked about the recent telephonic conversation earlier in the week between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron, who have a “wide partnership”.
“I’m not getting to get into any specific hypotheticals about the longer term , but let me simply say that both France and therefore the us have very strong interests in strengthening even more our respective relationships with India. this is often something that we strongly support,” Blinken said at a news conference here on Thursday.
PM Modi and France’s Macron discussed the recent developments in Afghanistan and shared their concerns about the possible spread of terrorism, narcotics, illicit weapons and human trafficking.
During their telephonic conversation, the 2 leaders reviewed the increasing bilateral collaboration within the Indo-Pacific region, and therefore the important role that the India-France partnership plays in promoting stability and security within the region, a press release released by the Prime Minister’s Office in New Delhi said.
On another question on Blinken’s meeting with French secretary of state Jean-Yves Le Drian, he said that “we are working now at the direction of President Macron and President Biden on a process of in-depth consultations on a series of issues moving forward to, in very practical ways, deepen the cooperation and coordination between our countries, which for several years and in some ways is already remarkably strong, but we will do more, and that we can do better.”
France is angry after the us , Australia and therefore the UK clinched a deal to provide Australia with submarines. Blinken said the US considerably welcomes European engagement and French engagement and leadership within the Indo-Pacific, and that is some extent that bears emphasis.
“The European Union strategy that came out on the Indo-Pacific a couple of days ago, a technique during which France played a number one role in developing, is one that we very, very strongly welcome. “We’re getting to put out our own revised strategy within the months ahead. it’ll be considerably informed by what the ecu Union has through with France’s very, very strong input. then one area where we’ll look to deepen our cooperation and collaboration is within the Indo-Pacific, and there are some ways during which we will do this .”
The resource-rich Indo-Pacific region is where China has been trying to spread its influence. India, the US and a number of other other world powers are talking about the necessity to make sure a free, open and thriving Indo-Pacific within the backdrop of China’s rising military manoeuvring within the region.
