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Afghanistan, bilateral ties focus of US deputy secretary’s visit to India
The Indian side is also expected to raise its security-relations concerns on Afghanistan, including the risk of Afghan soil being used for terror attacks, during the US deputy secretary’s visit to India.
The situation in Afghanistan and India-US cooperation to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific are expected to top the agenda for meetings this week between visiting US deputy secretary of state Wendy Sherman and her Indian interlocutors.
Sherman, who is on her first visit to India since assuming office in April, is also set to meet top business people in New Delhi and Mumbai to boost trade and investment during her three-day trip.
On Wednesday, Sherman will meet foreign secretary Harsh Shringla in New Delhi to review the India-US bilateral agenda and outcomes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to the US, the external affairs ministry said.
“They will exchange views on regional issues pertaining to South Asia and the Indo-Pacific region and contemporary global issues,” the ministry said without giving details.
Sherman will meet external affairs minister S Jaishankar and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, and join civil society events on Wednesday. Sherman and Shringla will also participate in a special session of the India-Ideas Summit organised by the US India Business Council later in the day.
On Thursday, Sherman will travel to Mumbai for engagements with the business community and civil society.
People familiar with developments said on condition of anonymity that the situation in Afghanistan, especially the way forward in the war-torn country following the Taliban takeover in Kabul, and cooperation to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific against the backdrop of China’s increasing assertiveness across the region are expected to be a key part of discussions during Sherman’s meetings with Indian interlocutors.
The Indian side is also expected to raise its security-relations concerns on Afghanistan, including the risk of Afghan soil being used for terror attacks, during the visit.
The discussions are also expected to prepare the grounds for the first India-US 2+2 foreign and defence ministers’ dialogue under the Biden administration in November.
Sherman’s visit will be a “useful opportunity to continue the regular dialogue and further strengthen the India-US comprehensive global strategic partnership”, the external affairs ministry said.
From India, Sherman will travel to Pakistan for the final leg of her four-nation trip that began on September 29. She first travelled to Geneva in Switzerland to lead a US interagency delegation for a strategic stability dialogue with Russia on September 30.
The strategic stability dialogue was the outcome of a commitment made by US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during their meeting in Geneva in June to have a robust dialogue to lay the groundwork for future arms control and risk reduction measures.
Sherman then went to Bern to inaugurate the first US-Swiss strategic partnership dialogue, before travelling to Uzbekistan to meet senior officials and civil society on Monday.
CIA chief William Burns had visited India and Pakistan last month for discussions on the situation in Afghanistan.
