Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State, stated that New Delhi is one of Washington’s “closest partners.” He made the remarks after meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Cambodia ahead of the ASEAN ministerial meeting.
Dr. Jaishankar and Blinken both are in Cambodia for the ASEAN ministerial meeting. See here.
https://twitter.com/SecBlinken/status/1555091483061018625
Blinken said in a statement released by the Department of State that it is an opportunity for both leaders to exchange views on a number of issues of shared interest, such as the free and open Indo-Pacific and the Sri Lankan crisis.
“Taking part in the ASEAN meetings is the opportunity for us to get together and compare notes with our closest partners, starting with my long-time friend, India Foreign Minister Jaishankar,” Blinken said in the statement.
“This is an opportunity for us to compare notes as we head into these very important ASEAN meetings. We’re both strong proponents of ASEAN centrality. We have a shared vision together for a free and open Indo-Pacific that we work on in so many different ways every single day,” he added further.
The US Secretary of State also mentioned a number of pertinent issues in Burma and Sri Lanka.
He said in the statement that, “We have some immediate challenges that we’re both concerned with including the situation in Sri Lanka, Burma and a number of other hotspots. So, I very much look forward to once again being able to go through a number of these issues with my friend, and then we’ll both head over to the meetings.”
Dr Jaishankar responded to Blinken: “Always good to meet.” There’s a lot we need to talk about, and it has actually been a very busy year. We had a very good quad and since then, I think, a number of developments all over the world. ” See here.
https://twitter.com/DrSJaishankar/status/1555061952673894400
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, was formally founded on August 8, 1967, when Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand signed the ASEAN Declaration (also known as the Bangkok Declaration). Brunei Darussalam joined on January 7, 1984, followed by Vietnam on July 28, 1995, Lao PDR and Myanmar on July 23, 1997, and Cambodia on April 30, 1999, constituting what is now ASEAN’s ten member states. See here.
