Antony Blinken to visit India next week, meet PM Narendra Modi

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (Image tweeted by @SecBlinken)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (Image tweeted by @SecBlinken)

New Delhi : US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been scheduled to visit India on Tuesday and meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This comes amid growing worries about the American exit from Afghanistan.

This will be Blinken's first visit to India since he took charge as the US Secretary of State following US President Joe Biden's election.

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.

He is also scheduled to meet Foreign Affairs Minister S Jaishankar during his two-day visit.

"Secretary Blinken's visit is an opportunity to continue the high-level bilateral dialogue and bolster the India-US global strategic partnership," the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

"Both sides will review the robust and multifaceted India-US bilateral relations, and potential for consolidating them further," it said.

"Discussions will focus on regional and global issues of mutual interest - including recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indo-Pacific region, Afghanistan and cooperation in the UN," the statement added.

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