Blinken and Jaishankar meet as ASEAN discusses Taiwan and Myanmar
Politics

Blinken and Jaishankar meet as ASEAN discusses Taiwan and Myanmar

On Thursday, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and US secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed regional and global issues along with the economic crisis in Sri Lanka. This was the second bilateral meeting between the two diplomats in less than a month’s time.

Mr. Blinken blames Sri Lanka’s economic crisis on Russia’s brutal aggression against Ukraine causing global food insecurity. The meetings were held in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum.

Mr. S Jaishankar tweeted on his account, “A warm conversation to start meetings on the sidelines of ASEAN Ministerial in Phnom Penh. Discussed the ever-strengthening India-US relationship and the global situation with US Secretary of State @SecBlinken.”

The US spokesperson also stated that Secretary Blinken condemned the execution of democracy activists by the Burmese military regime at the Jaishankar-Blinken meeting. They also spoke about promoting accountability for the regime’s atrocities as well as our joint efforts to return Burma to the path of democracy. They also commended us for working together to advance an Indo-Pacific region that is free, open, safe, and wealthy.

Despite its “deep concern” over these recent executions, India has not yet condemned Myanmar’s junta strongly.