US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expected to visit India soon

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to visit New Delhi soon.

By Naveen Kapoor US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to visit New Delhi soon.

It is learnt that preparations for the high-level visit are underway. There is no official announcement of the visit from either side. However, when in India Secretary Blinken is expected to hold bilateral talks with his counterpart External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

Jaishankar and Blinken have already met thrice in the past one year. After US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin's visit to India, this will be the second high profile visit of the member of Biden administration. The US had lent support to India when it was grappling with the deadly second wave of coronavirus.

Biden administration intervened to expedite procurement of raw materials for Indian vaccine makers and had sent ventilators and other equipment to counter COVID-19. Jaishankar had visited the United States in May and during his five-day visit discussed a wide range of issues related to shared priorities and regional security challenges apart from the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad).

The COVID-19 situation, vaccines, the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan besides China are expected to figure on the agenda during Blinken's visit. There is no official word on either agenda or on the dates of visit and an announcement may happen soon. (ANI)