Top US diplomat, trade team to take Indo-US ties forward after Modi-Biden summit

Sandeep Dikshit

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 5

US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman is on a three-day visit as part of the quick follow ups taking place at the bilateral level after the September 24 meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden in Washington.

Sherman will meet Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Wednesday to review the India-US bilateral agenda and outcomes of the PM’s recent visit to the US, said a MEA news release. They will exchange views on regional issues pertaining to South Asia and the Indo-Pacific region and contemporary global issues.

Sherman and Shringla will also participate in a special session of the India-Ideas Summit organised by the US India Business Council.

Sherman will call on External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.

The MEA said the visit will be a useful opportunity to continue the regular dialogue and further strengthen the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership.

Sherman is an experienced India hand, having persuaded New Delhi to cut down its reliance on Iranian oil as also facilitating a bounty on Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed while serving as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs under the Obama administration.

A month back, Sherman and Shringla had discussed continued coordination on Afghanistan besides preparing for the upcoming Indo-US two plus two meeting between the Foreign and Defence Ministers. Their interaction was preceded by a two plus two meeting at the senior officials’ level to discuss the Western Indian Ocean besides South and South-East Asia. Sherman is on a multi-country trip and has already met leaders from Russia, Turkey and Uzbekistan. After her India visit, she will travel to Pakistan.

Simultaneously, senior officials from the US Trade Representative Office, Chris Wilson, Brendan Lynch and Emily Ashby arrived here to prepare for the upcoming meeting of the US-India Trade Policy Forum this year, as decided during the Modi-Biden meeting. The two sides will try to address each other’s trade concerns and identify areas for intensified engagement, said a US Embassy news release. On the defence side, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat had met his counterpart Mark Milley in Washington as the two sides prepared new ground in defence cooperation.