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| Image: Flickr User - Ash Carter |
By Shannon Tiezzi
Manohar Parrikar’s visit to the U.S. was full of “firsts.”
India’s minister of defense, Manohar Parrikar, paid an official visit to the United States this week, beginning with a visit to U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) in Hawaii and ending with an inspection of a U.S. nuclear-power aircraft carrier in Virginia.
Parrikar started his trip off in Hawaii, where he became the first Indian defense minister to ever visit PACOM headquarters in what PACOM called a “milestone event.” Also while in Hawaii, Parrikar participated in the Pearl Harbor Commemoration Ceremony on December 7.
Parrikar met with PACOM Commander Admiral Harry B. Harris Jr. According to a readout from PACOM, their conversation focused heavily on maritime security. Parrikar and Harris “emphasized the importance of expanded maritime security cooperation within the context of broader military-to-military ties, especially in the Indo-Asia-Pacific” and also “discussed the continuance of the maritime security cooperation, [and] the potential for joint U.S.-India maritime patrols.”
Later, at a press conference at the Pentagon, Parrikar said that U.S.-India “cooperation in the area of maritime security is also becoming stronger, especially in the Indian Ocean region.”
Read the full story at The Diplomat