US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson may visit India in October
, ET Bureau|
Updated: Oct 12, 2017, 10.52 PM IST
NEW DELHI: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is expected to visit India this month on his maiden trip here close on heels of his colleague & Defence Secretary James Mattis trip to expand bilateral strategic partnership in Afghanistan and Indo-Pacific region.
Tillerson will be here ahead of President Donald Trump's East Asia & SE Asia visit and his daughter Ivanka Trump's trip to India for Global Entrepreneurship Summit. Tillerson's trip is under planning process, informed a person familiar with the matter.
Tillerson and his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj held their first meeting in New York last month. Besides they were also part of trilateral meeting with Japan in New York on sidelines of UNGA.
While India is satisfied with the Trump administration's policy on Pakistan, Tillerson may visit Pakistan while he is in South Asia, according to some reports.
Trump's visit will give an opportunity to both sides to discuss roadmap picking up from PM Narendra Modi's trip to USA in June.
Trump on August 22 unveiled his new policy for South Asia. He criticized Pakistan's policy of providing “safe havens to terrorist organisations” operating in Afghanistan. He also called for greater role of India in Afghanistan, thus making Pakistan's Government and its all-powerful Army jittery.
Tillerson, however, later had a meeting with his Pak counterpart in Washington and sought to smooth the ruffled feathers of Pakistan. He said in a joint news conference with Pak Minister that the US-Pakistan relations were very important and Pakistan was critical for long-term stability of South Asia.
Ahead of Tillerson's visit to Islamabad, Alice Wells, the US acting Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, and Lisa Curtis, Deputy Assistant to the American President and Senior Director for South and Central Asia at the US National Security Council, are visiting Pakistan. Earlier Mattis indicated that USA is ready to give Islamabad a chance.
Swaraj met Tillerson Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi may have their second meeting next month, on the sideline of the India-ASEAN & East Asia Summit in Manila between Nov 13-14.
Tillerson will be here ahead of President Donald Trump's East Asia & SE Asia visit and his daughter Ivanka Trump's trip to India for Global Entrepreneurship Summit. Tillerson's trip is under planning process, informed a person familiar with the matter.
Tillerson and his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj held their first meeting in New York last month. Besides they were also part of trilateral meeting with Japan in New York on sidelines of UNGA.
While India is satisfied with the Trump administration's policy on Pakistan, Tillerson may visit Pakistan while he is in South Asia, according to some reports.
Trump's visit will give an opportunity to both sides to discuss roadmap picking up from PM Narendra Modi's trip to USA in June.
Trump on August 22 unveiled his new policy for South Asia. He criticized Pakistan's policy of providing “safe havens to terrorist organisations” operating in Afghanistan. He also called for greater role of India in Afghanistan, thus making Pakistan's Government and its all-powerful Army jittery.
Tillerson, however, later had a meeting with his Pak counterpart in Washington and sought to smooth the ruffled feathers of Pakistan. He said in a joint news conference with Pak Minister that the US-Pakistan relations were very important and Pakistan was critical for long-term stability of South Asia.
Ahead of Tillerson's visit to Islamabad, Alice Wells, the US acting Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, and Lisa Curtis, Deputy Assistant to the American President and Senior Director for South and Central Asia at the US National Security Council, are visiting Pakistan. Earlier Mattis indicated that USA is ready to give Islamabad a chance.
Swaraj met Tillerson Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi may have their second meeting next month, on the sideline of the India-ASEAN & East Asia Summit in Manila between Nov 13-14.
