India, US Meet for First Maritime Security Dialogue
By Aiswarya Lakshmi
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
India and the U.S. held the first round of discussions under the recently-constituted maritime security dialogue between officials of Defence and External Affairs ministries and their U.S. counterparts.
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs David Shear, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Manpreet Anand and Vice Admiral Aucoin, Commander, U.S. Seventh Fleet, met with their Indian counterparts from the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Defense to discuss strategic maritime security issues.
“Among the issues discussed were Asia-Pacific maritime challenges, naval cooperation, and multilateral engagement,” the U.S. Embassy said.
U.S. Ambassador to India Richard Verma, who also participated in the meeting, asserted on the going relations between both nations.
"The creation of this dialogue was agreed to during Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter's recent visit to India and is a further sign of the growing relations between our two countries," he said.
Senior Indian and US officials exchanged views on security of the global waterways and ways to enhance bilateral cooperation between the two navies.
There is heightened tension between the US and China over the latter’s claims to disputed islands in the region and Beijing’s consolidation of reefs and islands in the South China Sea, through a massive land reclamation effort.