NSA Sullivan to visit India to finalise important ongoing initiatives: White House
Washington (PTI): Outgoing US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan will travel to India on January 5 and 6 for a final round of talks with his counterpart Ajit K Doval and other top government officials on a wide range of bilateral, regional and global issues and to finalise some ongoing initiatives.
His visit to India comes as the Joe Biden administration prepares to wrap up its four-year term.
Sullivan, 48, the youngest national security advisor when President Biden appointed him on January 20, 2021, would also deliver a major India-centric foreign policy speech at IIT, New Delhi during his last trip to India before leaving office.
Congressman Michael Waltz would succeed him on January 20, when Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th President of the United States.
"National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan will be travelling to New Delhi, India, on January 5 and 6 for a capstone meeting with Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval," White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby said on Friday.
"It will span a range of issues across the breadth of our partnership with India, from space, defence, and strategic technology cooperation, all the way also to shared security priorities in the Indo-Pacific and beyond," he said.
During the visit, Sullivan will also meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and other Indian leaders.
"He will also visit the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, where he will be able to meet with young Indian entrepreneurs and give a speech outlining the significant steps that the United States and India have taken together to strengthen our innovation alliance under the US-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology, otherwise known as iCET," Kirby said.
This will be Sullivan’s final trip to the Indo-Pacific region as National Security Advisor.
"He’s very excited and looking forward to these conversations at this critical time," Kirby said.
The main purpose of Sullivan's visit will be a capstone engagement and dialogue with his counterpart, a senior Biden administration official told reporters during a conference call Friday afternoon.
The two national security advisors will take stock of the progress that the two countries have made over the last four years, which has been a historic and transformative period in the bilateral relationship, the official said.
They will also "continue to finalise some ongoing initiatives that were important priorities for us to wrap up to continue our technology cooperation through the end of the administration and to identify new opportunities that we hope with an upcoming team, will continue to take forward,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
"From the views of the Biden administration, the US-Indian relationship has not only been one of the bright points and a real foreign policy priority and an area of legacy achievement for the Biden administration, but it is also a relationship where they have seen continued bipartisan support and momentum from administration to administration in the United States," said the official.
Sullivan's speech at IIT Delhi will highlight India's importance to US priorities in the Indo-Pacific region and worldwide.
“We see this as a partnership that is really not subject to huge partisan swings in the United States but has had a really enduring basis of support that we expect will continue to move forward,” said the official.
The US delegation led by Sullivan will also have members from other government departments.
“We will have the opportunity to meet with business leaders as well as young entrepreneurs in India, and really emphasise how much the progress that we have made in this relationship under the Biden administration is not only due to the work that has been done at a government to government level, but I think increasingly, due to the fantastic and strong relationships that exist at the people-to-people level, at company-to-company level, between the United States and India,” said the official.
“Overall, the message that we intend to leave with at the end of this trip is one of real gratitude for the friendship and the close partnership that President Biden and Prime Minister Modi have enjoyed over the last four years," the official said.
"We see a lot of opportunity in the future for the things that we have started with over the last four years, whether that is commercial space cooperation, looking at opportunities in the future for civil nuclear cooperation and more cooperation on green energy technology," the official said.
"We think all of these are poised, really, for exponential growth in the future. We are really proud that the Biden administration has put down such a solid foundation and made further growth possible,” the official said.
A second senior administration official told reporters that Sullivan will be taking up several issues with Indian officials on this trip.
The first one is advancing the civil nuclear partnership, looking at ways to advance cooperation around small modular reactor technology and other forms of civil nuclear cooperation.
The second issue involves addressing China's overcapacity, whether in the context of legacy chips or biopharmaceutical supply chains. It also includes aligning strategies on risks related to information and communication technology, as well as implementing protection measures focused on cyber technology.
The third includes discussions around artificial intelligence and national security following the conclusion of their own national security memorandum on AI and other regulations, the official said.
The fourth point to be discussed is promoting the new commercial space cooperation as the US finalised amendments to its own Missile Technology Control Regime for licensing policies.
Another issue to be discussed is unlocking funding for the US-India R&D partnerships under the university-based local challenges institute, the second official said.
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Punjab CM Mann meets President Murmu, seeks cancellation of membership of 6 RS members
Chandigarh (PTI): Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday met President Droupadi Murmu, demanding the termination of the membership of six Rajya Sabha MPs from Punjab who defected to the BJP and also pressed for the introduction of a constitutional provision allowing for the recall of members.
Accompanied by party MLAs and ministers, Mann visited Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi.
This meeting followed a significant setback for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on April 24, when seven of its 10 Rajya Sabha MPs -- Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal, Sandeep Pathak, Harbhajan Singh, Rajendra Gupta, Vikramjit Sahney and Swati Maliwal -- quit and merged with the BJP, alleging that the party had strayed from its principles, values and core morals. Six of the seven MPs who left AAP hailed from Punjab.
After he met with the President, Mann addressed the media here, describing the departure of the seven MPs as a "murder" of the Constitution. He stated, "Seven MPs merging with another party is completely unconstitutional. I spoke to Rashtrapati ji in detail."
Mann pointed out that he told the President that the BJP holds only two MLA seats (in Punjab), yet now has six MPs in the Rajya Sabha. He questioned, "How can this be possible? Isn't it a mockery of the Constitution?
"If they are such revolutionaries at heart, then they should have resigned from their six seats. The AAP could have sent someone else," Mann said, taking a swipe at them.
He emphasised the need for a recall provision in the Constitution, referencing MP Raghav Chadha's previous demands for such a measure when members fail to meet public expectations.
"Have you lived up to the expectations of the people?" Mann challenged the MPs during his statement.
Mann also presented a letter to the President, signed by all AAP MLAs. He differentiated between the terms 'elected' and 'selected,' stating, "They were 'selected.' Therefore, their membership should be cancelled."
The President assured Mann that she would consult constitutional experts before responding.
Earlier in the day, Mann, along with party MLAs, departed for Delhi from Chandigarh.
Speaking to reporters in Chandigarh, Mann affirmed that all AAP MLAs stand united with the party. "Only I have been given time for the meeting," Mann said.
"The President is the guardian of the Constitution. She is the constitutional head of the country," he added.
Later in a post on X in Hindi, Mann said, "Our struggle to protect Punjab's rights and interests continues. Today, along with all AAP MLAs, I have left to discuss Punjab's burning issues and present the state's strong voice before the President.
As your public servant, our government remains fully committed to Punjab's prosperity and the safeguarding of the rights of every section of society."
The MLAs and ministers gathered at the chief minister's residence in the morning before heading to Delhi, carrying placards that read 'Punjab Mann De Naal' and 'Punjab's Traitors.'
The legislators left for Delhi in buses.
Mann had previously sought an appointment with the President to meet with party MLAs and demand the "recall" of the Rajya Sabha MPs who defected to the BJP. However, only Mann was given a time slot for the meeting.
