India and US discuss regional security, Covid-19 aid

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said ties between India and the US would be critical for bringing prosperity to the Indo-Pacific region and that India is a top foreign policy priority against the backdrop of China's growing assertiveness.

Mr Blinken, who is on a visit to India, held wide-ranging talks with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on boosting vaccine production, among other things.

The pandemic remained top of the agenda, with Mr Blinken pledging US$25 million (S$34 million), adding to the earlier US$200 million, to boost vaccine supply chain logistics, fight vaccine hesitancy and help train healthcare workers.

The two sides also discussed the vaccine initiative under the Quadrilateral Security Forum, or Quad, to deliver one billion doses of Covid-19 vaccine by the end of next year, with a focus on South-east Asia. The Quad countries are the US, Japan, India and Australia.

"We focused today on expanding vaccine production to make it globally affordable and accessible," said Mr Jaishankar at a joint press conference after the talks.

The Quad vaccine initiative depends on India's pharmaceutical manufacturing prowess. But a deadly second wave of the pandemic saw India narrowing the focus to its domestic vaccination programme and stopping all exports.

Both sides also expressed their commitment to supplying vaccines to the region. Mr Blinken said: "We are determined to end this pandemic. India and the US will work together to do it, including through the Quad vaccine partnership, to bring safe and effective vaccines to others across the region."

India and the US have committed to working closely in the Asia-Pacific region, to provide a counterweight to growing Chinese dominance. Indian and Chinese troops have clashed at the border in the past year, while the US has many concerns over China, including over its activities in the South China Sea.

China views the Quad as an effort to contain its rise.

On this, Mr Blinken noted that the grouping is not a military alliance, but reinforces international rules and values and cooperation with other blocs such as Asean.

But an aspect of the visit that is likely to capture Chinese attention was his meeting with Ngodup Dongchung, a representative of the Tibetan government in exile.

It followed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's publicised birthday greetings to the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual and political leader, after a gap of many years.

Strategic analyst Brahma Chellany saw it as raising stakes on the issue of sovereignty for Tibet, which China rules.

"Blinken's meeting with Dalai Lama's envoy, and Modi's publicised birthday greetings to the Tibetan leader, signal US and Indian intent to raise the profile of the Tibet issue at a time when Xi's Tibet visit showcased his aggressive policies," tweeted Mr Chellany.

President Xi Jinping's visit to Tibet last week was the first official one by a China leader in 30 years.

Still, the two countries have divergences. Last month, the US urged India to "respect the vital role of human rights activists in healthy democracies", following the death of 84-year-old tribal rights activist and Jesuit priest Stan Swamy, who contracted Covid-19 in jail.

Mr Blinken, who also met Mr Modi, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and civil society leaders, noted that a shared commitment to democratic values is the bedrock of the bilateral relationship.

"Shared values - freedom and equality - are key and none of us have done enough. We need to strengthen our democratic institutions. This is at the core of our relationship, beyond strategic and economic ties," Mr Blinken said.