Phnom Penh

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Cambodia ahead of the ASEAN ministerial meeting on Thursday, said that New Delhi is among Washington's "closest partners".

In a statement issued by the Department of State, Blinken said that it is an opportunity for both the leaders to compare notes over various mutual interest areas including free and open Indo-Pacific and Sri Lanka crisis.

"This is an opportunity for us to compare notes as we head into these very important ASEAN meetings. We're both strong proponents of ASEAN centrality. We have a shared vision together for a free and open Indo-Pacific that we work on in so many different ways every single day," the US Secretary of State said.

Meanwhile, Jaishankar told Blinken: "Always good to meet. There's a lot we need to talk about and it is actually been a very busy year, we had a very good Quad and since then I think a number of developments all over the world."

A warm conversation to start meetings on sidelines of ASEAN Ministerial in Phnom Penh.

Discussed the ever strengthening India-US relationship and the global situation with US Secretary of State @SecBlinken. pic.twitter.com/JzcrBSklx4

— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) August 4, 2022

ALSO READ: India, US hold consultations on UNSC issues

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. 

Blinken is on a five-nation tour of South-east Asia and Africa. He is attending a number of events associated with the ASEAN foreign ministers' meet.