Biden team working to make India a perfect partner Sunday, January 31, 2021 By: Sunday Guardian Live After the “unprecedented dark page” of American politics the world witnessed in the insurrection at the Capitol Hill on 6 January, President Joe Biden and his key appointees, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary, General Llyod Austin, have immediately swung into engaging the world after the inauguration. Not only the new President called key alliance partners to strengthen US foreign relations by meeting the challenges ahead, Blinken and Austin have already set their targets to engage for “comprehensive strategic and security partnerships”. Interestingly, India was on top on the mind of both. Secretary Blinken had already spoken to his counterpart, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and vowed to carry forward and strengthen India-US strategic ties, the growing economic engagement and the health cooperation between the two. Gen Austin last week had already made his agenda clear of “engaging India as a comprehensive defence partner” and had formally spoken to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. Security experts from both countries are also in touch to expand the cooperation ambit to meet challenges of terrorism and the security threats emerging in the Indo-Pacific region, primarily the common threat being China’s expansionist agenda in the South China Sea and Indo-Pacific waters.