US to operationalise India as Major Defence Partner: Austin

New Delhi, Jan 22 : US Secretary of Defense nominee, Lt Gen Lloyd Austin (retd) has said that he would further operationalise India’s major “Major Defence Partner” status.
During his confirmation hearing in Congress, the former US Central Command chief was asked on how he would enhance the overall defence relationship between the US and India and what priorities would he establish.
Austin said: “If confirmed, my overarching objective for our defence relationship with India would be to continue elevating the partnership. I would further operationalise India’s ‘Major Defence Partner’ status and continue to build upon existing strong defence cooperation to ensure the US and Indian militaries can collaborate to address shared interests.” “I would also seek to deepen and broaden our defence cooperation through the Quad security dialogue and other regional multilateral engagements,” he added.
On Pakistan, Austin said: “I understand Pakistan has taken constructive steps to meet US requests in support of the Afghanistan peace process.” Austin said that Pakistan has also taken steps against anti-Indian groups, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, although this progress is incomplete.