New Delhi:

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval held a phone conversation on Friday with his American counterpart Jake Sullivan amid some indication of unease in India-US ties following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Russia.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Mr Doval and Sullivan reiterated the need to work “collectively” to address global challenges to peace and security and further expand the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership.

It said the two national security advisors agreed to work closely to further advance India-US relations, which are “built on shared values and common strategic and security interests”.

“They discussed a wide range of issues of bilateral, regional and international concern and forthcoming high-level engagements under the Quad framework to be held in July 2024 and later in the year,” the MEA said in a statement.

The phone conversation between the NSAs came a day after US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti appeared to be critical of India’s ties with Russia.

Garcetti, speaking at an event in Delhi on Thursday, said India and the US must uphold democratic principles when other countries go against the rules-based order.

“I know…and I respect that India likes its strategic autonomy. But in times of conflict, there is no such thing as strategic autonomy. We will, in crisis moments, need to know each other. I don’t care what title we put to it, but we will need to know that we are trusted friends, brothers and sisters, colleagues,” Garcetti said without making any reference to Prime Minister Modi’s trip to Moscow this week.

In an apparent reference to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the US envoy said “no war is distant anymore”.

“No war is distant anymore and we must not just stand for peace, we must take concrete actions to make sure those who don’t play by peaceful rules, that their war machines cannot continue unabated,” he said.

Garcetti also underlined the importance of maintaining the sanctity of borders.

“I don’t have to remind India how important borders are..That when we stand on those principles and stand together, we can show that principles are the guiding light of peace in our world and together the world’s two largest democracies can enhance the security and the stability of our region,” he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

Amid concerns over India’s ties with Russia, a top US official on Thursday cautioned New Delhi that a “bet on Russia as a long-term, reliable partner is not a good bet” and Moscow would side with Beijing over New Delhi in case of a conflict between the two Asian giants.

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan made the remarks while replying to a question on MSNBC about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Moscow where he held extensive talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“We’ve made clear to every country in the world including India that a bet on Russia as a long-term, reliable partner is not a good bet,” said Mr Sullivan, who was in India last month for a meeting with his counterpart Ajit Doval.

The top American official had also met Prime Minister Modi during his visit.

“Russia is becoming closer to China. In fact, it’s becoming the junior partner to China. And in that way, they would side with China over India any day of the week. And … Prime Minister Modi, of course, has profound concerns about the potential for Chinese aggression against India. Which we have seen over recent years,” Mr Sullivan said.

The NSA, however, acknowledged that countries like India have a historic relationship with Russia and it’s not going to change dramatically overnight.

“This is playing the long game. It (US) is making investments in democratic partners and allies around the world including countries like India and we think that that will pay off as we go forward,” he added.

His remarks came a day after spokespersons of the Pentagon, the White House and the State Department reacted separately to questions on India’s relationship with Russia and Modi’s visit to Moscow.

Prime Minister Modi was in Russia for two days for the 22nd India-Russia annual summit that has been watched closely by the West amidst the raging Ukraine conflict.

During his talks with Mr Putin on Tuesday, Prime Minister Modi told the Russian President that a solution to the Ukraine conflict is not possible on the battlefield and peace efforts do not succeed amid bombs and bullets.

India has been stoutly defending its “special and privileged strategic partnership” with Russia and maintained the momentum in the ties notwithstanding the Ukraine conflict.

India has not yet condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and has consistently pitched for a resolution of the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

NASA chief Bill Nelson.
| Photo Credit: AP

NASA administrator Bill Nelson has said that the U.S. space agency will expand collaboration with India and it will include a “joint effort” aboard the International Space Station with an Indian astronaut.

Mr. Nelson’s comments came after a fact sheet issued by the U.S. and India after the iCET Dialogue between U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on June 17 said they were working toward commencing advanced training for ISRO astronauts in the U.S.

“Building on my visit to India last year, NASA continues to further the United States and India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology for the benefit of humanity. Together we are expanding our countries’ collaboration in space, to include a joint effort aboard the International Space Station with an ISRO astronaut,” Mr. Nelson, wrote on X on June 19.

“While specific details about the mission are still in work, these efforts will support future human spaceflight and improve life here on Earth,” Mr. Nelson said.

In New Delhi, Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Doval on June 17 said they concluded the Strategic Framework for Human Spaceflight Cooperation to deepen interoperability in space and are working toward commencing advanced training for ISRO astronauts at the NASA Johnson Space Centre.

The two leaders exchanged views on securing a carrier for the first-ever joint effort between NASA and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) astronauts at the International Space Station, which will mark a significant milestone in the India-U.S. space partnership and space exploration.

They also noted that the space agencies of the two countries are preparing for the launch of the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar, a jointly developed satellite that will map the entirety of the Earth’s surface twice every 12 days as part of efforts to combat climate change and other global challenges together.

The meeting between Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Doval also concluded that India and the U.S. must remain at the forefront of developing critical technologies as part of a larger strategic interest.

Mr. Doval and his counterpart also unveiled a raft of transformative initiatives to deepen India-U.S. cooperation in areas of artificial intelligence, semiconductor, critical minerals, advanced telecommunication and defence space.

The iCET was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Joe Biden in May 2022 to forge greater collaboration between India and the U.S. in areas of critical technologies.

Mr. Sullivan visited Delhi from June 17 to 18, the first trip to India by a senior Biden Administration official after the Modi government came to power for the third term.

The U.S. National Security Adviser was accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising senior U.S. government officials and industry leaders.

U.S. White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., June 17, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

As the world’s two oldest and largest democracies, the United States and India share a unique bond of friendship and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s visit will further deepen the partnership to create a safer and more prosperous Indo-Pacific, the White House has said.

Mr. Sullivan is visiting New Delhi from June 17 to 18, in the first trip to India by a senior Biden administration official after the Modi government came to power for the third term.

Mr. Sullivan met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval on Monday.

“As the world’s two oldest and largest democracies, the United States and India share a unique bond of friendship, and Mr. Sullivan’s trip will further deepen the already strong U.S.-India partnership to create a safer and more prosperous Indo-Pacific,” John Kirby, White House National Security Communications Advisor told reporters at his daily news conference on Monday.

In New Delhi, Mr. Kirby said, Mr. Sullivan will co-chair the US-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology, also known as iCET, a landmark partnership to expand strategic cooperation across key technology sectors including space, semiconductors, advanced telecommunications, artificial intelligence, quantum technology, biotechnology and clean energy.

Mr. Kirby did not respond to questions on Indian national Nikhil Gupta who has been accused of being involved in a murder-for-hire plot against Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil and has been extradited to the U.S. from the Czech Republic.

“I don’t have more to add on the conversations that Jake’s having. He’s still over there having these conversations. But the main focus of his visit, as I said, was to look for ways to deepen the U.S.-India bilateral relationship, particularly when it comes to emerging technology,” he said.

Nikhil Gupta was produced before a federal court in New York on Monday, where he pleaded not guilty.

India has publicly said a high-level inquiry is looking into the evidence shared by the U.S. in the alleged plot to kill Mr. Pannun.

New Delhi:

National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and his US counterpart Jake Sullivan on Monday attended the annual meeting of the initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) between the two countries.

The delegation-level talks were held in the national capital. This is the second iCET meeting between the two countries and is being held over two days on June 17 and 18. The first meeting was held in the United States in January last year.

US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the US-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) in May 2022 to elevate and expand the bilateral strategic technology partnership and defence industrial cooperation between the governments, businesses, and academic institutions of the two countries.

The United States and India had affirmed that the ways in which technology is designed, developed, governed, and used should be shaped by “our shared democratic values and respect for universal human rights”.

The two countries also said that they are committed to fostering an open, accessible, and secure technology ecosystem, “based on mutual trust and confidence, that will reinforce our democratic values and democratic institutions”.

Earlier in the day, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held a meeting with Jake Sullivan and discussed bilateral, regional and global issues.

Mr Jaishankar expressed confidence that the strategic partnership between India and the US will continue to advance strongly in the near term.

“Delighted to welcome US NSA Jake Sullivan in New Delhi today morning. A comprehensive discussion on a broad range of bilateral, regional and global issues. Confident that India-US strategic partnership will continue to advance strongly in our new term,” Mr Jaishankar said in a post on X.

Delighted to welcome US NSA @JakeSullivan46 in New Delhi today morning.

A comprehensive discussion on a broad range of bilateral, regional and global issues.

Confident that India-US strategic partnership will continue to advance strongly in our new term.

pic.twitter.com/daqbE466bF

— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) June 17, 2024

Jake Sullivan, who is in India along with Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and other top officials, will also meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

It is the first visit of a senior US official after the Modi government came to power for a third term.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Ursula von der Leyen President of European Commission, Swiss Federal President Viola Amherd, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine and President Gabriel Boric Font of Chile attend the closing press conference of the Summit on Peace in Ukraine, in Obbürgen, Switzerland, on June 16, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Eighty countries have jointly called for the “territorial integrity” of Ukraine to be the basis for any peace agreement to end Russia-Ukraine war, though some key developing nations at a Swiss conference did not join in.

The joint communique capped a two-day conference at the Bürgenstock resort in Switzerland marked by the absence of Russia, which was not invited, but that many attendees hoped could join in on a roadmap to peace.

About 100 delegations, mostly Western countries but also some key developing nations, were on hand for the conference — and experts were on watch to see how and if at all they might line up behind the outcome document.

However, India, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates — which were represented by foreign ministers or lower-level envoys — were among those that did not sign onto the final document, which focused on issues of nuclear safety, food security and the exchange of prisoners. Brazil, an “observer” country, did not sign on but, Türkiye, which has sought to an intermediary between Russia and Ukraine, signed the document.

The ‘path to peace’

The final document said the U.N. Charter and “respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty…can and will serve as a basis for achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine.”

Viola Amherd, the Swiss president who hosted the event, told the final news conference that the fact that the “great majority” of participants agreed to the final document “shows what diplomacy can achieve”. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed the “first steps toward peace” at the meeting, and said the joint communique remains “open for accession by everyone who respects the U.N. Charter.”

Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Union’s executive Commission, said the conference was “rightly” entitled “Path to Peace” because peace won’t be achieved in a single step.

“It was not a peace negotiation because Putin is not serious about ending the war. He is insisting on capitulation. He is insisting on ceding Ukrainian territory — even territory that today is not occupied by him,” she said. “He is insisting on disarming Ukraine, leaving it vulnerable to future aggression. No country would ever accept these outrageous terms.”

Analysts say the two-day conference will likely have little concrete impact toward ending the war because the country leading and continuing it, Russia, was not invited — for now. Russia’s key ally, China, which did not attend, and Brazil have jointly sought to plot alternative routes toward peace.

The meeting also endeavored to return a spotlight to the war at a time when conflict in Gaza, national elections and other concerns have seized global attention.

It’s ‘going to take work’, says Jake Sullivan

The three themes of nuclear safety, food security and prisoner exchanges featured in the final statement. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said they amounted to “minimum conditions” for negotiations with Russia, alluding to how many other areas of disagreement between Kyiv and Moscow will be harder to overcome.

Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, noted a day earlier how his rich Gulf country hosted talks with both Ukrainian and Russian delegations on the reunification of Ukrainian children with their families that has so far resulted in 34 children being reunited.

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, speaking to reporters at the resort on Saturday, said it’s “going to take work” and countries stepping up to build on efforts by nations like Qatar. “It’s going to take a spotlight from the international community, not just from only voices from the United States or Europe, but from unusual voices as well to say what Russia has done here is more than reprehensible and must be reversed,” he said.

The Ukrainian government believes that 19,546 children have been deported or forcibly displaced, and Russian Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova has previously confirmed that at least 2,000 were taken from Ukrainian orphanages.

Montenegro Prime Minister Milojko Spajic told the gathering on June 16: “As a father of three, I’m deeply concerned by thousands of Ukrainian kids forcibly transferred to Russia or Russia-occupied territories of Ukraine.”

“We all at this table need to do more so that children of Ukraine are back in Ukraine,” he added.

Rafah, Palestinian Territories:

An Israeli strike killed 31 people in central Gaza Sunday, the Palestinian territory’s civil defence agency said, as US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan visited for talks on the conflict.

Israeli troops have moved in on the Gaza Strip’s far-southern city of Rafah, which the army describes as the last Hamas stronghold and where the United States says 800,000 civilians have been newly displaced by the fighting.

Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said it was targeting Israeli forces stationed at Rafah crossing — a vital conduit for humanitarian aid that is now closed — with mortar fire.

Israel has also fought and bombed resurgent Hamas forces in northern and central areas of the coastal territory previously considered to be under army control, sparking US warnings that it could become mired in a lengthy counterinsurgency campaign.

In the latest aerial bombardment overnight, Gaza’s civil defence agency said an Israeli strike had killed 31 people and wounded 20 in a home in the central Nuseirat refugee camp.

Israel’s military, which on Sunday reported its aircraft had “struck dozens of terror targets” over the past 24 hours, said it was checking the reports.

Witness Yasser Abu Oula told AFP an entire residential complex “was destroyed” and “there are still bodies under the rubble”.

Jake Sullivan meets Benjamin Netanyahu

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to keep fighting Hamas in Gaza, following its October 7 attack that sparked the war, until the Iran-backed Islamist group is defeated and all remaining hostages are released.

But he has faced intense opposition and calls to announce a plan for Gaza’s post-war governance — from top ally Washington, from mass street protests and now also from members of his war cabinet.

Amid the political turmoil, Sullivan met his Israeli counterpart Tzachi Hanegbi and Netanyahu in Jerusalem for talks on the brutal Gaza conflict and post-war scenarios.

He briefed Netanyahu on the “potential” of a normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia after holding talks in the region, the White House said Sunday.

Sullivan also called on the Israeli prime minister to link the military operation against Hamas in Gaza with a “political strategy” for the future of the Palestinian enclave, it added.

Washington has pushed for a post-war plan for Gaza involving Palestinians and supported by regional powers, as well as for a broader diplomatic deal under which Israel and regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia would normalise relations.

Israel’s Centrist politician Benny Gantz threatened Saturday to quit the governing hard-right coalition over just this issue. He has called for Netanyahu to approve a post-war “action plan” by June 8.

Gantz demanded steps to defeat Hamas, to bring home the hostages, and towards forming an “American, European, Arab and Palestinian administration that will manage civilian affairs in the Gaza Strip”.

Netanyahu has dismissed Gantz’s comments, saying they would lead to “a defeat for Israel” and “the establishment of a Palestinian state”, which he fiercely opposes.

‘Day after’ scenarios

US President Joe Biden called Sunday for an immediate Gaza ceasefire and said he was pushing for a regional peace deal “to get a two-state solution, the only solution”.

The Gaza war broke out after Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Hamas also took about 250 hostages during the October 7 attack, of whom 124 remain held in Gaza including 37 the army says are dead.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive against Hamas has killed at least 35,456 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to data provided by the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

In central Israel on Sunday, mourners gathered for the funeral of German-Israeli Shani Louk, 22, whose body was recovered Thursday from Gaza by troops who also took back three other dead hostages.

‘Almost’ no aid

Israel has imposed a siege on the long-blockaded Gaza Strip, depriving its 2.4 million people of normal access to clean water, food, medicines and fuel, the suffering eased only by sporadic aid shipments by land, air and sea.

The head of the UN agency helping Palestinians said that “despite all the calls by the international community not to launch an offensive in Rafah, in reality an offensive started on May 6”.

Since then, “we have again about half of the population of Gaza being on the road forced to flee” for safety once more, though “we keep saying there is absolutely nowhere to go,” UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini told reporters in Amman.

Lazzarini said that because of the fighting, “almost nothing in terms of aid is crossing” into Gaza, raising fears that recent gains made “to prevent a looming famine … might quickly be reversed”.

Truck arrivals have slowed after the Rafah crossing with Egypt closed when Israel launched its operation in the city.

After a series of attacks on Gaza-bound trucks in Israel, a group of Israeli activists on Sunday travelled with an aid convoy to protect it, an AFP correspondent said.

Aid has also begun entering via a temporary US-built floating pier, where shipments sent from Cyprus are offloaded for distribution.

The United Arab Emirates said Sunday a shipment of 252 tonnes of aid had been unloaded after arriving from the Cypriot port of Larnaca.

The UN’s humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths warned that if dire fuel shortages were not alleviated, the “famine which we have talked about for so long, and which is looming, will not be looming anymore. It will be present”.

“Our worry … is that the consequence is going to be really, really hard,” he told AFP in Qatar. “Hard, difficult, and apocalyptic.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held wide-ranging talks with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on October 27.
| Photo Credit: AP

President Joe Biden has emphasised that the United States and China need to manage competition in the relationship responsibly and maintain open lines of communication as he met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi ahead of a potential meeting with President Xi Jinping next month to reset bilateral ties.

President Biden met Wang at the White House on October 27 after the top Chinese diplomat held wide-ranging talks with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. Wang’s visit is expected to lay the groundwork for a potential meeting between Mr. Biden and Chinese President Xi at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in San Francisco in mid-November.

“The President emphasised that both the United States and China need to manage competition in the relationship responsibly and maintain open lines of communication. He underscored that the United States and China must work together to address global challenges,” the White House said in a readout of the meeting between Mr. Biden and Wang.

Mr. Sullivan and Wang had candid, constructive, and substantive discussions on key issues in the U.S.-China bilateral relationship, the Israel-Hamas conflict, Russia’s war against Ukraine, and cross-Strait issues, among other topics, said the National Security Council in a readout of the meeting.

During the meeting, Mr. Sullivan discussed concerns over China’s dangerous and unlawful actions in the South China Sea. He raised the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

Also read: View From India | Dispute in the South China Sea

China views Taiwan as a rebel province that must be reunified with the mainland, even by force. China has been conducting provocative military exercises around the self-ruled island.

“The two sides reaffirmed their desire to maintain this strategic channel of communication and to pursue additional high-level diplomacy, including working together towards a meeting between President Biden and President Xi Jinping in San Francisco in November,” said the readout.

State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said Mr. Blinken and Wang discussed a range of bilateral, regional, and global issues, including addressing areas of difference as well as exploring areas of cooperation.

“The Secretary reiterated that the United States will continue to stand up for our interests and values and those of our allies and partners,” he said.

The relationship between the world’s two largest economies began to deteriorate during the Trump administration. In 2018, former President Donald Trump signed an executive memorandum that would impose retaliatory tariffs on up to $60 billion in Chinese imports.

The U.S. and China have one of the world’s most important and complex bilateral relationships. Since 1949, the countries have experienced periods of both tension and cooperation over issues including trade, climate change, the South China Sea, Taiwan and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Biden administration has sought to re-establish normal diplomatic ties with China after an incredibly fraught period, most notably over the Chinese surveillance balloon incident in February.

White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan cited the possibility of a new battle front on the Israel-Lebanon border. File

The U.S. said on Sunday it fears an escalation of the war between Israel and Hamas and the prospect of Iran getting directly involved.

Speaking on CBS, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan cited the possibility of a new battle front on the Israel-Lebanon border and added, “We can’t rule out that Iran would choose to get directly engaged some way. We have to prepare for every possible contingency.”

Iran is a long-time backer of the militant group Hamas and of Hezbollah in Lebanon, providing them funding and weapons.

“That is a risk and that’s a risk that we have been mindful of since the start,” Mr. Sullivan said of the prospect of Iran getting involved in the war, which was triggered by the Hamas attack on southern Israel from Gaza last weekend.

“It’s why the President moves so rapidly and decisively to get an aircraft carrier into the eastern Mediterranean, to get aircraft into the Gulf, because he sent a very clear message to any state or any actor that would seek to exploit this situation,” Mr. Sullivan added.

Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin announced the deployment of the second aircraft carrier on Saturday “to deter hostile actions against Israel or any efforts toward widening this war following Hamas’s attack.”

In the eastern Mediterranean, the carrier USS Eisenhower and its accompanying ships will join the USS Gerald R. Ford, which was dispatched after the Hamas attack on October 7.

John Kirby, spokesman for the National Security Council, also said that the U.S. is concerned about a new front in the war opening on the Israeli border with Lebanon.

“We don’t want to see another terrorist group like Hezbollah widening this and opening fronts to distract against the fight against Hamas,” Mr. Kirby said on the “Fox News Sunday” program.

Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for several rocket attacks on northern Israel since the war between Israel and Hamas erupted.

“Of course, Iran is broadly complicit and this has helped Hamas function and be able to conduct the terrorist attack they have conducted,” Mr. Kirby said.

But he reiterated the U.S. position that it has no intelligence pointing to specific Iranian participation in the Hamas attack.

Washington:

The United States is in touch with India and Canada after Ottawa said Indian government agents had links to the murder of a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Thursday.

“We are in constant contact with our Canadian counterparts … and we have also been in touch with the Indian government as well,” Sullivan told reporters at the White House.

“I firmly reject the idea that there is a wedge between the US and Canada. We have deep concerns about the allegations and we would like to see this investigation carried forward and the perpetrators held to account.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)