Jaishankar in US from May 24-28: Bilateral ties, vaccines, covid cooperation on table

Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar will be travelling to the United States this Sunday to meet UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in New York and hold a bilateral meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington to discuss vaccine production, resilient supply chains and the Indo-Pacific. He will be in America till May 28.

Jaishankar will meet Secretary General Guterres in the backdrop of India joining the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) as non-permanent member this year.

EAM @DrSJaishankar will be visiting the United States from 24-28 May 2021.

Press Release: https://t.co/IRVOC6O0nL

— Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) May 21, 2021

On the Covid front, Jaishankar will also hold talks with the US administration to secure unused vaccines, particularly the Oxford AstraZeneca’s Covishield. New Delhi is also looking at joint production of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine in collaboration with the US in India. The external affairs minister will also be talking to other US-based vaccine developers as part of interaction under the aegis of India-American Chambers of Commerce.

“In Washington DC, the External Affairs Minister will hold discussions with his counterpart Secretary of State Antony Blinken. He will also be meeting Cabinet members and Senior Officials of the Administration dealing with the bilateral relationship,” the MEA said in a statement.

On Thursday, Jaishankar, while speaking at an Indian Express-Financial Times event, said that the relationship between India and China is at a crossroads and the direction of bilateral ties depends on whether Beijing adheres to various agreements on maintaining peace along the border.

“I think the relationship is at a crossroads. And which direction we go, depends on whether the Chinese side would adhere to the consensus, whether it would follow through on the agreements, which we both have done for so many decades. Because what is very clear in the last year is that border tensions cannot continue with, you know, cooperation in other areas,” he added.