US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's visit to India comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the White House in June.
 |
| US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will visit four countries next week. (Source: AP) |
The Hindu newspaper quoted an official announcement from the US Department of Defense saying that Secretary Lloyd Austin will begin a tour of four countries next week, including India.
The Pentagon chief is expected to meet his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh and other leaders as the US and India continue to modernize their key defence partnership.
The visit provides an opportunity to advance new defense innovation and industrial cooperation initiatives, and advance ongoing efforts to expand operational cooperation between the U.S. and Indian militaries, the statement said.
Lloyd Austin will be the fourth US cabinet minister to visit India this year. Secretary of State Antony J Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo visited the South Asian country in February and March.
India is the third destination on Secretary Lloyd Austin's tour. He previously visited Tokyo, where he held talks with his Japanese counterpart Yasukazu Hamada and other senior leaders and visited US troops stationed there.
According to the Pentagon, Secretary Lloyd Austin's visit comes as the United States and Japan are taking important steps to modernize alliance capabilities, optimize U.S. forces, and build ties with like-minded partners following the 2+2 ministerial meeting between the two countries.
In his second destination, Singapore, Mr. Lloyd Austin will deliver a plenary speech at the 20th Shangri-La Dialogue of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in Singapore.
On the sidelines of the Dialogue, the US Secretary of Defense will meet with a number of leaders to promote US defense partnerships in the region, supporting a shared vision of a free and open Indo- Pacific region, centered on ASEAN.
After concluding his activities in New Delhi, Mr. Lloyd Austin will travel to France to participate in events commemorating the 79th anniversary of D-Day, meeting with French and British defense leaders.
According to the Hindustan Times , this will be Secretary Lloyd Austin's second visit to India and his seventh visit to the Indo-Pacific since taking office in January 2021.
Source
Comment (0)