Antony Blinken arrives in Delhi

The United States’ Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday, July 27 arrived in India for a two-day visit. The Secretary of State will hold meetings with Indian leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday, July 28.

Reportedly, the security of the Delhi Airport was beefed up by 20 per cent ahead of Blinken’s visit. This is Blinken’s first visit to India after assuming charge as US Secretary of State. Blinken has meetings lined up with Indian leaders before flying to Kuwait later in the evening. Discussions on strategic issues are likely to happen and he had earlier mentioned his plans to raise the issue of human rights. The meeting between Secretary Blinken with EAM Jaishankar and PM Modi on July 28 is expected to witness discussions on a wide range of issues. The Ministry of external affairs informed in a statement that Blinken’s visit to India was an opportunity to continue the high-level bilateral dialogues and bolster the India-US global strategic partnership. The statement asserted, “Both sides will review the robust and multifaceted India-US bilateral relations, and potential for consolidating them further. 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 United Nations.”