US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will pay a two-day visit to India for the first time as America’s top diplomat beginning July 27 to discuss a range of issues including the evolving situation in Afghanistan, the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and engagement in the Indo-Pacific region.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), announcing the visit, said Blinken will meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on July 28.
A statement by the US State Department said Blinken will also meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“US Secretary of State, Antony J Blinken, will visit India on July 27 and 28,” the MEA said.
It will be Mr Blinken’s first visit, after assuming charge as US Secretary of State following US President Joe Biden’s election, to India, which since the late 1990s has moved increasingly close to the United States as the world’s two largest democracies see shared interests on a rising China and other challenges.
Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin visited New Delhi as part of his first overseas trip but Mr Blinken’s travel was put on hold amid a severe outbreak of COVID-19 in the country.
Secretary Blinken’s visit is an opportunity to continue the high-level bilateral dialogue and bolster the India-US global strategic partnership. Both sides will review the robust and multifaceted India-US bilateral relations, and potential for consolidating them further,” the MEA said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the US Department of State, in a statement, said the discussion will focus on issues such as “continued cooperation on COVID-19 response efforts, Indo-Pacific engagement, shared regional security interests, shared democratic values and addressing the climate crisis.”
In May, during his five-day trip to the US, EAM Jaishankar had an in-person meeting with Blinken, where they had discussed COVID-19 cooperation between the two countries.
Following the meeting, Blinken had said, “The partnership between the United States and India is vital. It’s strong. And I think it’s increasingly predominant.”
Both of them had also met earlier that month during the G-7 Foreign Ministers’ meeting held in London.
