Defense production, Israel-Hamas war and China’s military demonstration in the Indo-Pacific, what happened in India-America 2+2 ministerial talks

The timing of the India-US 2+2 ministerial talks on November 10 has sent its political message. That both the US Secretary of State and the US Defense Secretary did not postpone the meeting despite being preoccupied with the dangerous situation developing in West Asia shows the importance the US attaches to maintaining the momentum of growing relations with India. The US has moved two aircraft carrier groups and a marine unit to the eastern Mediterranean to deter Hezbollah from opening a northern front against Israel in collaboration with Iran and to take military action if necessary. America is already involved in the conflict with Russia in Europe over Ukraine. A situation of possible conflict with China is being created in the Western Pacific region. Apart from these two, the US now faces the serious prospect of getting entangled militarily in a third area of ​​conflict in West Asia.

India also has an interest in all these disputes. Its relations with Russia remain very important for bilateral and geopolitical reasons. They have come under pressure from the West due to the Ukraine conflict. In West Asia, India has significant energy, financial, manpower and geopolitical interests with the Arab countries, while also developing very important relations with Israel, to the point of opening up real possibilities of India-Arab-Israel cooperation in the region. Used to be. India’s relations with China have become as adversarial as US-China relations, laying a strong foundation for a closer partnership to counter China’s expansionist rise and its hegemonic ambitions.

Apart from strengthening India-US bilateral relations, the 2+2 dialogue has acquired timely significance. The US has been reaching out to China in recent months with the stated intention of managing the increasingly adversarial relationship by putting guard rails in place to avoid the explosion of actual military conflict. It has now been announced that the Biden-Xi meeting will coincide with the APEC summit in San Francisco. There has been extensive planning for this meeting, which has already included several high-level visits to China. This also makes the timing of 2+2 communication important. While the US sends signals of constructively engaging China within a defined strategic matrix, a signal is also being sent to China through the 2+2 dialogue ahead of the Biden-Xi meeting that the Indo-Pacific strategy, Quad and In the face of China’s assertiveness, strengthening relations with India remains a cornerstone of US strategy in Asia.

The joint statement issued on the occasion of the 2+2 dialogue emphasized the important role of the Quad as a force for global good for the people of the Indo-Pacific. It hopes for India to host the next in-person Quad Leaders Summit in 2024, but this will depend on President Biden attending the Republic Day celebrations as the chief guest. It is noteworthy that Defense Minister Rajnath Singh had said during the bilateral meeting with his American counterpart that India and America are increasingly agreeing on major issues like countering China’s aggression. The US Defense Secretary, in his media briefing, said the two sides talked about the growing security challenges posed by China. It would be important for the US that Ukraine be included in the joint statement, as its omission would be interpreted as a lack of US focus on Ukraine in view of the emerging conflict in West Asia (referred to as the Middle East in the joint statement). For India, it was a question of staying within the bounds of its established position, especially as doubts had arisen in the US, Europe and Ukraine itself about external support for continuing the conflict.