US secretary of state Antony Blinken arrives in India, to meet Modi, Jaishankar tomorrow

NEW DELHI: US secretary of state Antony Blinken on Tuesday arrived in India on a two-day visit for talks on strengthening Indo-Pacific engagement as well as New Delhi's human rights record among other issues.
This is Blinken's first visit since assuming office. The top US official is due to meet prime minister Narendra Modi and external affairs minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday before jetting off to Kuwait.
Last week, the ministry of external affairs said Blinken's visit "is an opportunity to continue the high-level bilateral dialogue and bolster the India-US global strategic partnership.'' Apart from India's human rights record, the two countries are expected to discuss turmoil in Afghanistan as well as common worries about China.
The meeting is also expected to touch on joint efforts on making Covid-19 vaccines as well as climate change.
Blinken's meeting follows US secretary of defence Lloyd Austin's India visit back in March this year. Both countries agreed to deepen defense cooperation, intelligence sharing and logistics.
(With inputs from agencies)