Jaishankar calls India-US defence ties 'truly consequential' at Pentagon
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth expressed enthusiasm about the growing defence partnership between the two countries. He highlighted the integration of US defence systems into India's armed forces and outlined the goal of expanding industrial cooperation and co-production networks.Hegseth echoed Jaishankar's sentiment, welcoming the minister and lauding the progress made in integrating American defence systems into India's armed forces. He emphasised future ambitions, including finalising key defence deals and expanding joint production capabilities.advertisement"The US is very pleased for the successful integration of many US defence items... building on this progress, we hope we can complete several major pending US defence sales to India, expand our shared defence industrial cooperation and co-production networks, strengthen interoperability... and formally sign a new framework of US-India major defence partnership," Hegseth said.'We are eager to work alongside you to realise our shared goals,' Hegseth added. 'They are deep and ongoing. The visit today marks an important milestone in the ongoing series of high-level engagements between our two great countries.'Jaishankar also met US Secretary Marc Rubio on the sidelines of Quad Foreign Ministers' meeting. "Pleasure meeting US @SecRubio this afternoon on the sidelines of the Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting. We discussed our bilateral partnership -- trade, security, critical technologies, connectivity, energy, and mobility -- and shared views on regional and global developments," Jaishankar said.- EndsWith inputs from ANITune InMust Watch
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India Gazette
28 minutes ago
- India Gazette
Quad announces launch of Critical Minerals Initiative
Washington, DC [US], July 2 (ANI): The Foreign Ministers of India, the US, Japan, and Australia have announced the launch of the Quad Critical Minerals Initiative. The new flagship initiative will enable four nations to bring economic opportunity and prosperity to their people and the region, according to the factsheet released by the Office of the US State Department spokesperson following the Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting (QFMM). US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Japan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Takeshi Iwaya, and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong met in Washington, DC, on July 1 for the 10th Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting. They welcomed recent and upcoming activities conducted by their four countries, as well as those in cooperation with partners, to advance a free and open Indo-Pacific. The four leaders announced key initiatives to strengthen maritime and transnational security, economic prosperity, security, critical and emerging technology, and support humanitarian assistance and emergency response across the region. The factsheet released by the Office of the US State Department spokesperson following the Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting (QFMM) stated, 'Today, Quad Foreign Ministers are proud to announce the launch of the Quad Critical Minerals Initiative, an ambitious expansion of our partnership to strengthen economic security and collective resilience by collaborating on securing and diversifying critical mineral supply chains.' 'This new flagship initiative, alongside the high-impact programs and outcomes the Quad is realizing, will enable our four countries to bring economic opportunity and prosperity to our people and the region,' it added. The Quad is expanding maritime law enforcement cooperation with the region, which will support efforts to curb illicit maritime activity, including piracy, drug trafficking, border security infringements, and illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. The factsheet reads, 'This month, we launched the first-ever Quad-at-Sea Ship Observer Mission, which strengthens our interoperability and knowledge-sharing to best address unlawful maritime activities across the region. Quad partners have embarked as observers on a U.S. Coast Guard Cutter that has departed Palau and will disembark in Guam this week.' The leaders announced that the Quad will hold its second maritime legal dialogue later this month to advance efforts to uphold maritime order. The factsheet stated, 'We continue to implement the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA), including the increased provision of space-based collection and sharing of radio frequency data, analytical training, and capacity building. We intend to geographically expand IPMDA across the Indian Ocean region and continue to explore developing an IPMDA common operating picture.' The Quad Foreign Ministers expressed their intention to hold the first Maritime Initiative for Training in the Indo-Pacific (MAITRI) workshop in 2025, which aims to assess the capability gaps in the region and enhance maritime capabilities in consultation with regional partners. They expressed commitment to ensuring a free and open region and promoting the prosperity of the citizens of the four nations and all people in the Indo-Pacific region. The leaders stated that they aim to strengthen energy security across the Indo-Pacific and promote resilient supply chains and quality infrastructure projects that are transparent and secure. The factsheet released following the Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting stated, 'The Quad Critical Minerals Initiative will strengthen cooperation on priorities such as securing and diversifying reliable supply chains, and electronic waste (e-waste) critical minerals recovery and re-processing. The Initiative will expand the Quad's cooperation on supply chain resilience measures for critical minerals, and we look forward to coordinating with private sector partners to facilitate increased investments.' The four leaders announced that they will launch the Quad Ports of the Future Partnership by hosting a transportation and logistics conference with Indo-Pacific partners in Mumbai in October 2025. The conference aims to increase knowledge, facilitate dialogue, and exchange experiences on advanced port and logistics practices, and mobilise government and private sector investments in quality port infrastructure development, according to the factsheet. This will complement the work Quad partners have done to boost infrastructure expertise across the Indo-Pacific region through the Quad Infrastructure Fellowships Program. The Foreign Ministers of the Quad nations stated that they will continue to advance the Quad Partnership in areas of cable connectivity and Resilience. This year, the US and India will host an undersea cables forum with participation from Quad partners to identify opportunities for digital infrastructure collaboration. This forum will encourage regulatory harmonisation, which supports more efficient access by Quad partner companies to identify opportunities for digital infrastructure collaboration. (ANI)
The Wire
30 minutes ago
- The Wire
No 'Pakistan' Mention in Quad's Pahalgam Condemnation; Govt Deletes 'Pak Terror' From Rajnath-Hegseth Call Readout
The Quad statement's language closely followed the UN Security Council's press statement, which had also avoided identifying the group responsible for the attack or making any direct reference to the Indian government. India's own messaging on Pakistan had also been muddled. Pete Hegseth and Rajnath Singh. In the background: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan Takeshi Iwaya, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and American Secretary of State Marco Rubio during Quad Foreign Ministers' meeting in Washington DC. Photos: X/@DrSJaishankar and X/@rajnathsingh. New Delhi: The Quad group of countries on Tuesday (July 1) condemned the Pahalgam terror attack and called for the 'perpetrators, organisers and financiers' to be 'brought to justice', but stopped short of naming Pakistan or explicitly calling for cooperation with the Indian government. This was stated in a joint communiqué issued after the foreign ministers of the Quad, India, the United States, Japan, and Australia, met in Washington for the second time this year. The language closely followed the template of the UN Security Council's press statement issued in May, which had also avoided identifying the group responsible for the attack or making any direct reference to Indian government. The Quad joint statement said it 'unequivocally condemns all acts of terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms and manifestations, including cross-border terrorism, and renews our commitment to counterterrorism cooperation'. It went on to condemn 'in the strongest terms the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir on April 22, 2025', offered 'deepest condolences to the families of the victims', and wished a speedy recovery to those injured. 'We call for the perpetrators, organizers, and financiers of this reprehensible act to be brought to justice without any delay and urge all UN Member States, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant UNSCRs, to cooperate actively with all relevant authorities in this regard,' the statement said. This sentence was nearly identical to the UN Security Council statement issued on May 25. Diplomatic sources had said at the time that Pakistan, currently a non-permanent member of the Council and backed by China, had influenced the final language of the UNSC statement, which was originally drafted by the United States. In a key shift from the UNSC's 2019 statement after the Pulwama attack, the press statement on the Pahalgam terror attack omitted any reference to the Indian government, but only 'relevant authorities' – an approach now mirrored by the Quad. The 2019 statement also mentioned the Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed by name as being behind the Pulwama attack. India has claimed that an offshoot of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayyaba was behind the Pahalgam attack. Two weeks after the incident, India launched drone and missile strikes on four sites inside Pakistan, targeting what it described as terrorist infrastructure. Pakistan retaliated, leading to four days of military exchanges that ended after US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire. While Trump claimed credit for brokering the ceasefire, India later stated there had been no formal agreement, only a temporary cessation of hostilities following a phone call between the Indian and Pakistani military leaderships. Meanwhile, Pakistan's standing in Washington appeared to improve, with army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir receiving an unprecedented lunch invitation from President Trump. The Narendra Modi government has since faced domestic criticism from opposition parties for failing to garner international support to name or isolate Pakistan. There was also concern in New Delhi that President Trump's public framing of the situation had 're-hyphenated' India and Pakistan. In the days following the clashes, India dispatched multiple all-party delegations of MPs to foreign capitals to make the case for Pakistan's alleged terror links. 'India has every right...': Jaishankar Speaking just ahead of Tuesday's Quad meeting, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar said India expected its partners to recognise its right to defend itself against terrorism. 'A word about terrorism in the light of our recent experience,' he said, referring to the Pahalgam attack. 'The world must display zero tolerance. Victims and perpetrators must never be equated.' 'India has every right to defend its people against terrorism, and we will exercise that right. We expect our Quad partners to understand and appreciate that,' he added. No 'Pakistan-sponsored terrorism' In a separate development, India's own messaging on Pakistan had also been muddled. The Ministry of Defence removed all references to 'Pakistan-sponsored terrorism' from its official readout on defence minister Rajnath Singh's call with US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth on Tuesday. The original version, which was also carried by state media Doordarshan, affirmed India's right to launch strikes inside Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir under 'Operation Sindoor' and declared, 'Pakistan's long track record of cross-border terrorism is well known globally. It has become a safe haven for internationally banned terrorists who enjoy immunity there.' However, after minutes of its release, the ministry issued a revised version that dropped all references to "Pakistan-sponsored terrorism." The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
India Today
31 minutes ago
- India Today
10,300 Indian illegal immigrants caught at US border in 2025. That's a 70% dip
There has been a 70% decline in Indians attempting to illegally enter the US between January and May 2025, with 10,382 Indian nationals, primarily from Gujarat, arrested during this period, seeking to enter the United States. This also included 30 unaccompanied development comes amid tighter border controls and raids on illegal immigrants under President Donald data was released by US Customs and Border Protection (USCBP).advertisement This is a substantial decrease from 34,535 arrests between January-May 2024 to 10,382 in the same period in 2025, averaging 69 daily arrests. During the same corresponding period in 2024, the daily arrest average was around 230 under the Joe Biden Donald Trump's return to power, many of these smuggling syndicates began scaling back their operations in late 2024, according to a report in The Times of India."The moment it became clear Trump would likely win again, routes started drying up," a source connected to a Gujarat-based human smuggling ring told desire to migrate remains strong, but smugglers have either reduced their activity or increased their fees, and fears of tougher deportation policies are very real, according to the data also reflects a wider drop in border apprehensions across all nationalities – from 81,492 in January down to 28,617 in February – while it remained over 29,000 in the next three months. A total of 590,069 illegal immigrants were caught while entering the US, according to the total of 1,233,959 illegal immigrants were caught during the same corresponding period in OF UNACCOMPANIED MINORS FROM INDIAIn fiscal year 2024, US authorities apprehended over 500 unaccompanied Indian minors. Now, under the Trump administration, there's a much tougher stance on "unaccompanied children" left at the border by their of individuals, including those from India, leave their children on the US-Mexico or US-Canada border in the hope that they will be taken in and granted American suggest children are often in the age bracket of 12-17, but sometimes they are younger to an April 2024 report by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), there are an estimated 2.2 lakh (220,000) undocumented Indians living in the US. Since January 2025, more than 332 Indians have been people from India keep trying to enter the US, often via perilous routes. Migrants sometimes take risky sea routes offered by smugglers to bypass heavily fortified land borders. On May 9, a tragic boat accident occurred near Del Mar, California, in which a 14-year-old Indian boy and his 10-year-old sister died off the coast of boats often depart from Mexico's coast, sometimes travelling hundreds of October 2024, the US Coast Guard has tracked 277 vessels suspiciously entering US waters from Mexico in the San Diego area.- Ends
