US Secretary of Defence, Lloyd J. Austin III, was on a three-day visit to India, from March 19, 2021, to March 21, 2021. His visit to India is a part of his first overseas travel to emphasise the strength of the India-US strategic partnership. Against this event’s backdrop, many social media users are sharing screenshots of two tweets, one of NDTV and the other of ANI. While the Tweet of NDTV says, US Defence Secretary discussed Human Rights issues with the Indian Minister, the tweet by ANI quotes a source to say that US Defence Secretary did not discuss the human rights issues. The screenshots of the tweets are being shared to show that the human rights issues were not discussed by the US Defence Secretary in his meetings with India’s top political leaders.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, 19 March, met United States Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin and conveyed his best wishes for US President Joe Biden.
Tweeting a photograph from his meeting with Austin, PM Modi wrote:
“Pleasure to meet US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin today. Conveyed my best wishes to President of United States Joe Biden. India and US are committed to our strategic partnership that is a force for global good.”
Austin, on his part, on arriving in India, had taken to Twitter to say that he is thrilled to be here:
“Thrilled to be here in India. The breadth of cooperation between our two nations reflects the significance of our major defense partnership, as we work together to address the most pressing challenges facing the Indo-Pacific region.”
On being asked by an American journalist, if human rights were discussed, Austin replied, he did not get the opportunity to discuss human rights issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but he discussed this with other ministers. The Print quoted Austin’s statement, which he made during a press briefing to American journalists and a group of Indian journalists. In his statement, he said, “Having said that, I did have a conversation with other members of the cabinet on this issue. We have to remember that India is our partner, a partner whose partnership we value.” He also said, “And I think partners need to be able to have that kind of discussion, and certainly we feel comfortable doing it. We can have those discussions in a meaningful way” The news was reported by The Print on March 20.
The Indian defence ministry had said that Defence Minister Singh and Austin “are expected to discuss ways to further strengthen bilateral defence cooperation and exchange views on regional security challenges and common interests in maintaining a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.”
“Discussions regarding defence cooperation would also focus on how both countries could consolidate military-to-military cooperation and defence trade and industry cooperation,” it added.
Hence, it could be evidently concluded that the US Defence Secretary had said that he discussed the human rights issues with Indian Ministers, unlike what is claimed by social media users.
