India and US Discuss Strategic Autonomy
MEA Responds to Ambassador Garcetti’s Remarks
India values its strategic autonomy and has its own views, said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal in response to US Ambassador Eric Garcetti’s remarks. Jaiswal emphasized the comprehensive global strategic partnership between India and the US, allowing them to agree to disagree on certain issues.
Garcetti had commented that in times of conflict, strategic autonomy does not exist. He stated, “I know that India…and I respect that India likes its strategic autonomy, but in times of conflict, there is no such thing as strategic autonomy. We will in crisis moments, need to know each other. I don’t care what title we put to it, but we will need to know that we are trusted friends, brothers and sisters, and colleagues in times of need.”
The discussion follows PM Modi’s visit to Russia, where he met President Putin to discuss trade and economic cooperation. They outlined goals to eliminate non-tariff trade barriers and achieve a mutual trade volume of over USD 100 billion by 2030. They also decided to continue dialogue on the liberalization of bilateral trade, including the possibility of establishing the EAEU-India Free Trade Area, and to work on developing a bilateral settlement system using national currencies and digital financial instruments for mutual settlements.
Doubts Revealed
Strategic Autonomy -: Strategic autonomy means a country makes its own decisions independently, without being influenced by other countries.
MEA -: MEA stands for the Ministry of External Affairs, which is the Indian government department responsible for managing India’s foreign relations.
Ambassador Garcetti -: Eric Garcetti is the US Ambassador to India, which means he represents the United States in India and works on maintaining good relations between the two countries.
Randhir Jaiswal -: Randhir Jaiswal is a spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs in India, meaning he communicates the official views and responses of the Indian government on international matters.
Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership -: This is a close and wide-ranging relationship between two countries, like India and the US, where they work together on many important global issues.
Agree to Disagree -: This means that two people or groups accept that they have different opinions on a topic and decide not to argue about it.
PM Modi -: PM Modi refers to Narendra Modi, who is the Prime Minister of India, the head of the Indian government.
President Putin -: President Putin is Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, which means he is the head of the Russian government.
