India and the US are looking at the possibility of a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and it could take place as early as next week. Both sides are in the process of finalising the dates and other relevant details of the visit that would be Blinken’s first trip to India as the US Secretary of State.
The focus of the visit would be to prepare grounds for an in-person summit of leaders of the Quad grouping comprising India, Japan, Australia, and the US in Washington later this year. Sources added that it will be a two-day visit to India from July 27 to 28. Blinken is expected to hold bilateral talks with external affairs minister S Jaishankar in New Delhi. The two officials have met thrice in the past one year, the most recent being when Jaishankar visited the US back in May. Blinken is also likely to meet prime minister Narendra Modi. There was, however, no official comment on such a visit. Blinken would be the second high-ranking Biden administration official to visit India since it came to power in January. US Defence Secretary Lloyd J Austin paid a three-day visit to India in March to further boost bilateral defence and security ties. Austin’s visit to India came days after the top leadership of the Quad grouping of India, the US, Japan and Australia vowed to expand their cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region at a virtual summit hosted by President Joe Biden.
