US SECRETARY of state Antony Blinken and defence secretary Lloyd Austin will hold talks with India this week that officials say will focus on security challenges in the Indo-Pacific and concerns over China, rather than the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.
The talks in New Delhi on Friday (10) with India's foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and defence minister Rajnath Singh are part of the so-called "2+2 Dialogue", launched in 2018 to boost defence cooperation and align policy objectives in the Indo-Pacific region.
Officials said that India's diplomatic spat with Canada over the killing of the Canadian Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar is not expected to affect the dialogue even though India has come under US pressure to cooperate with Ottawa in the murder investigation.
US officials were moving swiftly to deepen ties with India while pledging support for an investigation into the June killing on Canadian soil, an American official aware of the Indo-Pacific policy said.
China and the larger Indo-Pacific will be the "key focus points", said an Indian government official aware of the agenda, adding that defence collaboration, including joint development of defence equipment would also be discussed.
The two countries are working on deals for the US to supply and manufacture engines for Indian fighter jets, MQ-9 predator drones and semiconductor manufacturing.
The discussions would pick up the threads from Indian prime minister Narendra Modi's successful visit to Washington in June and president Joe Biden's trip to New Delhi for the G20 summit in September, officials said.
Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media.
The dialogue comes ahead of Biden's expected meeting with China's president Xi Jinping at the end of this month on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco and Biden's possible return to New Delhi for a visit in January.
Farwa Aamer, the Asia Society Policy Institute's Director of South Asia Initiatives, said that the dialogue has "seen remarkable progress, particularly in the realm of defence cooperation," where technology transfer and co-production were presently the focus.
India's ties with the US have grown steadily stronger on several fronts, and it has close strategic links with Israel. But New Delhi has also carefully preserved longstanding relations with Russia, and improved economic relationships with oil and gas producing countries in the Middle East.
Given these considerations, strategic discussions between Washington and New Delhi would not be shaped by the wars in Gaza and Ukraine or by India's fraught relations with Canada, said Rick Rossow, an India specialist at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies.
(Reuters)
Blinken, Lloyd Austin to visit India for Indo-Pacific talks
India’s diplomatic spat with Canada over the killing of Nijjar is not expected to affect the dialogue
English questioning rose from 20 per cent to 31 per cent, and racist jokes from 36 per cent to 41 per cent
Workplace violence against Black and ethnic minority employees rises to 26 per cent
Highlights
The Trades Union Congress surveyed 1,044 Black, Asian and ethnic minority employees. The results show clear increases in racist behaviour between 2020 and 2026.
Workers having their English questioned rose from 20 per cent to 31 per cent. Those hearing racist jokes went up from 36 per cent to 41 per cent.
Racist comments made to workers or around them increased from 31 per cent to 36 per cent.
Violence and threats
The most worrying finding involves physical threats and violence, which jumped from 19 per cent to 26 per cent.
Racist posts shared on workplace social media grew from 22 per cent to 28 per cent. Racist materials being passed around increased from 19 per cent to 25 per cent.
Beyond direct racism, many workers face unfair treatment. Nearly half (45 per cent) said they get harder or less popular jobs.
Over two in five (43 per cent) receive unfair criticism. The same number (41 per cent) stay stuck on temporary contracts.
Work conditions got worse too. Those not getting enough hours rose from 30 per cent to 40 per cent.
Workers denied overtime went from 30 per cent to 37 per cent. Being kept on short-term contracts increased from 33 per cent to 41 per cent.
Direct managers cause most unfair treatment (35 per cent), followed by other managers (19 per cent).
Bullying mainly comes from direct managers (30 per cent) and colleagues (28 per cent). Racist behaviour mostly comes from colleagues (33 per cent) and customers or clients (22 per cent).
Paul Nowak, TUC general secretary, said: "Black and ethnic minority workers are facing appalling and growing levels of racism and unfair treatment in Britain. This racism is plaguing the labour market – and it's getting worse."
The TUC is calling for urgent government action to tackle the problem. The union wants ring-fenced funding for the Equality and Human Rights Commission to enforce workplace protections.
It is pushing for mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting for companies with over 50 employees.
The TUC says the Employment Rights Act, which makes employers responsible for protecting workers from harassment by customers and clients, will be an important step forward.
The union also wants employers to treat racial harassment as a health and safety issue and monitor ethnicity data across recruitment, pay and promotions.