Trade, security on agenda as Antony Blinken meets PM Modi today

India and the US will on Wednesday hold bilateral discussions and focus on wide-ranging issues including security, trade and investment, Indo-Pacific engagement as well as health care.

 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. The meeting will be followed by another one with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the latter’s residence in New Delhi.

 

Blinken is on a two-day visit to India and arrived in New Delhi on Tuesday. This is his first visit to the country as secretary of state.

 

On Tuesday, the US State Department issued a fact sheet, ‘India, US : Deepening our Strategic Partnership’, that focused on five broad areas — deepening India-US partnership, the Indo-Pacific front and center, deterring adversaries and defending interests, combating the Covid-19 pandemic, and tackling the climate crisis.

 

“Secretary Blinken will meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar to discuss a wide range of issues, including continued cooperation on Covid-19 response efforts, Indo-Pacific engagement, shared regional security interests, shared democratic values, and addressing the climate crisis,” an official statement released by the office of the spokesperson. According to a PTI report, the implications of the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan and the need for sustained pressure on Pakistan on terror financing and safe havens will be discussed. There will be a focus on deepening engagement under the framework of the Quad with the possibility of a foreign ministerial meeting of the grouping expected to take place later this year.

 

India is expected to press for gradually resuming international travel while maintaining health protocols, especially for easing the mobility of students, professionals, and business travellers, besides humanitarian cases, the news agency said.

 

According to the Ministry of External Affairs, discussions will focus on regional and global issues of mutual interest, including recovery from the pandemic, the Indo-Pacific region, Afghanistan, and cooperation in the UN. “Visit is an opportunity to continue the bilateral dialogue and bolster the India-US global strategic partnership. Both sides will review the robust and multifaceted bilateral relations,” the MEA had said last week.

 

As far as vaccines are concerned, India is expected to push for consistent supply of raw material required to manufacture vaccines. Apart from that, the status of the US’s intent to send shipments of vaccine could be discussed.