U.S. Defence Secretary Leon Panetta on Wednesday assured his Indian
counterpart A. K. Antony that Washington would initiate measures to
facilitate technology access and sharing.
Mr. Panetta met Mr. Antony for about an hour in the South Block offices
of the Defence Ministry and held delegation-level talks.
The meeting comes ahead of the third India-U.S. Strategic Dialogue to be held in Washington from June 13.
Both sides exchanged views on the security situation in West Asia, South
Asia and the Af-Pak region and on various global security challenges,
including in the area of cyber security. They agreed that there are
opportunities to enhance ties in areas of mutual interest and concern,
says a Defence Ministry.
Mr. Antony emphasised that the priority for India was to move beyond the
buyer-seller transactions and to focus on transfer of technologies and
partnerships to build indigenous capabilities.
With regard to security concerns in the Asia-Pacific region, Mr. Antony
conveyed to the U.S. side that India supported unhindered freedom of
navigation in international waters for all. At the same time, with
regard to bilateral issues, he stressed that it was desirable that the
parties concerned should settle contentious matters in accordance with
international laws.
Mr. Antony noted there was need to strengthen the multilateral security
architecture in the Asia-Pacific region and to move at a pace
comfortable to all countries concerned.
Mr. Antony's observations came in the backdrop of China asserting its naval presence in the South China Sea.
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