Union minister of defence Rajnath Singh and Union minister for external affairs (EAM) S Jaishankar will meet defence secretary of the United States (US) Lloyd Austin and US secretary of state Antony Blinken for the two plus two format meet between India and US in April.
The talks will be held on April 11. The Union ministers will travel to the US on a three-day visit from April 10 to April 13.
These meetings come shortly after Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit. Earlier, news agency the Indian Express (IE) reported that Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov is also expected to visit India next week. Meanwhile, News18 also learnt that UK foreign secretary Elizabeth Truss will also visit India to meet EAM S Jaishankar on March 31.
India will also host Nepal prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba who will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he embarks on his first bilateral visit abroad after becoming prime minister in July last year. His visit comes soon after Wang Yi’s visit to Kathmandu.
EAM S Jaishankar is on a visit to Sri Lanka and Maldives.
India’s strategic importance continues to grow due to the war in Ukraine as Russia aligns closely with China in thwarting NATO, the US and its allies in Europe.
The visit can also be seen as a damage control measure on behalf of the US after president Joe Biden said, that among Quad partners, the US feels India’s commitment towards ending the war in Ukraine is ‘shaky’.
The US refrained from making any comments on India’s proposal to purchase crude from Russia but indirectly said that India must decide on which side of history it wanted to be when White House press secretary Jen Psaki was answering reporters earlier in March.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, however, has spoken to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenksy and Russian president Vladimir Putin over the phone urging both to hold direct conversations and end hostilities immediately to protect civilian lives.
The US understands that it needs India to counter Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific region as Chinese president Xi Jinping continues to push forward his expansionist policies at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) as well as the South China Sea (SCS).
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