Jaishankar, Blinken discuss bilateral agenda ahead of Quad meet in Tokyo

NEW DELHI: The bilateral agenda between India and the US was discussed in Tokyo on Sunday, between External Affairs Minister, Dr S Jaishankar, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken ahead of the Quad Foreign Ministers meeting that will be held on Monday.

“Great to catch up with Secretary Blinken in Tokyo today. Our bilateral agenda progresses steadily. Also had wide ranging discussions on regional and global issues,” said Dr Jaishankar.

Blinken also spoke about his meeting with Dr Jaishankar and said they spoke about regional peace.

“Met with Dr Jaishankar to deepen US-India collaboration and affirm our shared commitment to regional peace, security and prosperity,” said Blinken.

The duo met a day after there has been a buzz on PM Modi visiting Ukraine next month. The narrative of their conversation would have probably changed from the U.S. commenting that they were disappointed with PM Modi’s Moscow visit to looking forward to PM Modi visiting Ukraine- possibly to negotiate a peace process.

Meanwhile, Dr Jaishankar began his Tokyo visit by unveiling a bust of Mahatma Gandhi in Edogawa. The park where the bust was installed will be named as Gandhi Park.

“In India we think of Gandhi ji as the father of our nation understandably. But for the world, he is actually a global icon. And we have to ask ourselves today why is it important to have this statue here? And I can think of three reasons. One, that the achievements of Gandhiji have far outlived his own times, and have got more and more importance. Second, the message that Gandhiji gave through his life and through his work is timeless. What he taught us was important then, it is important even now. And three, I was told this is a place, somebody called it Little India, I hope it becomes bigger, but this is a place where the Indian community in Tokyo lives and gathers in large numbers. And I cannot think of a more appropriate occasion and a better way of strengthening bonds between India and Japan than by this event,” said Dr Jaishankar.

Dr Jaishankar also said that at present there was a lot of conflict in the world, lot of tension, polarization and bloodshed.

“It is very important that Gandhijis message that solutions do not come from a battlefield. No era should be an era of war. That message applies today as much as it did 80 years ago,” Dr Jaishankar said.