S Jaishankar raises concerns about Ukraine conflict impacting global fuel price with US state secy

In his opening remarks, Jaishankar said: "In today’s meeting, we discussed our political coordination, working together in plurilateral and multilateral formats, and exchanging assessments on collaborating on important regional issues and global challenges. I would specifically mention the Ukraine conflict and the Indo-Pacific situation in that regard."

"I shared with Secretary Blinken my experience of interactions during the UNGA about the deep anxieties in the global South on fuel, on food, on fertilizers.

"The increasing salience of green growth, digital development and affordable health is today very very evident. We must not let current developments jeopardize Agenda 2030 on SDGs or to deflect us from climate action and climate justice commitments," he said.

Speaking on India-US cooperation, Jaishankar said: "India and the U.S. have a strong interest in encouraging more resilient and reliable supply chains. This requires policy decisions as well as practical measures involving the business community. We are focused on those goals."

"Our national security, our economic security, our technology security are all enhanced by closer collaboration. It is also in our mutual interest to facilitate the development and mobility of talent. We agreed that impediments in this regard should be addressed."

Jaishankar mentioned that he flagged some visa-related challenges for Indians to Blinken in their meeting.

"On mobility, specifically visas, this is particularly crucial, given its centrality to education, business, technology and family reunions; there have been some challenges of late and I flagged it to Secretary Blinken and his team and I have every confidence that they will look at some of these problems seriously and positively," he said.

The two leaders discussed over the last two days their commitment to practising and furthering democracy, human rights and good governance.

"Each country approaches this set of issues from their history, tradition and societal context. Our yardsticks for judgement are the integrity of the democratic processes, the respect and the credibility that they command with the people, and the non-discriminatory delivery of public goods and services. India does not believe that the efficacy or indeed the quality of democracy should be decided by vote banks."

"This is an area where we look forward to a healthy exchange of views. There will be convergences and best practices that we can both profit by and perhaps even share with third countries," Jaishankar added.