NATO for strong ties with India

New Delhi, April 13

NATO is keen on a closer relationship with India, said its Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during a virtual address at the Raisina Dialogue that began here on Tuesday.

NATO has already formalised a strong partnership with South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand in the Indo-Pacific region. It can also work more closely with countries like India, a like-minded democracy, sharing the same values and standing up for the rules-based order,” he suggested. NATO has a formal dialogue mechanism with its strategic adversaries, Russia and China, but not with India. The NATO Secretary General suggested that a formalised dialogue structure could be the first step. “It’s never too late to deepen dialogue and work more closely with India to strengthen the cooperation between India and NATO,” he said. NATO and China have had an annual military dialogue since 2010. It was interrupted in 2016 due to the restructuring in the Chinese armed forces and the terror attacks in Brussels.

Stoltenberg had made observations about strengthening ties with “like minded democracies” during US Secretary of State Tony Blinken’s first visit to Brussels last month. — TNS