India will go by national interest: Jaishankar to Pompeo on missiles deal

New Delhi: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and India’s Foreign Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday issued a joint statement after concluding bilateral talks panning trade, terrorism, energy and defence cooperation.

Addressing the media, S Jaishankar said, “We discussed a number of bilateral and global issues, on terrorism, I took the opportunity to express our appreciation for the strong support that we have received from the Trump administration, what we say is really zero tolerance for cross border terrorism.”

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said, “India and the United States have a strategic partnership and that is actually based on deep and broad convergence which has been steadily growing over last many years.”

“We can see each other not just as bilateral partners, but something much bigger than that, so that we can help each other all around the world,” Pompeo said.

Pompeo said that the ties between the nations is already beginning to reach new heights, including defence corporation and common vision for free and open Indo-Pacific.

Photo: ANI | Twitter

S Jaishankar said, “I made the point that Indo-Pacific is for something, not against somebody and it is peace, security, stability, and prosperity. We are looking at a landscape where a number of independent players work together for what they believe to be global good.”

Talking about US-Iran issues, S Jaishankar said, “We discussed the situation in the Gulf, I shared our interests and concerns with Secretary Pompeo, energy security is part of it but there are other concerns as well about diaspora, regional security and trade.”

India has been in a difficult spot of late. India primarily imports crude from Iran and also frequently buys weapon systems from Russia both of which have now come to a standstill, thanks to US sanction pressures. India's USD 5 billion deal to purchase S-400 surface-to-air missile systems have also been stalled due to US' Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).

The missile deal and Iranian oil were both discussed during their meeting, Jaishankar and Pompeo said, but mentioned no resolution of either at the news conference.

He confirmed that Chabahar did not come up in the talks on Wednesday because India does not have an outstanding concern there at the moment.

"The Prime Minister reiterated the priority that he attaches to relations with the US and outlined his vision for the Strategic Partnership in the new tenure of the Government and beyond, building on strong foundation of trust and shared interest," a statement from the Prime Minister's Office said.

Pompeo expressed the US government's continued interest in building stronger relations with India and working together to realise the shared vision and goals, it said. He also conveyed greetings of President Donald Trump to the Prime Minister and congratulated him on his electoral victory.

Modi requested Pompeo to convey his thanks to Trump for his good wishes. Pompeo arrived in New Delhi on Tuesday night.

Pompeo's visit comes ahead of a meeting between Modi and US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan, later this week. ​