New Delhi :
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who arrived in New Delhi last night, called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday and discussed several issues of the bilateral relationship to strengthen the India-US strategic partnership.
“Working together to further deepen our strategic partnership. Secretary Pompeo called on PM Narendra Modi to exchange views on various aspects of Indo-US relationship. PM will meet President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the upcoming G20 Osaka Summit,†Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted along with pictures of the meeting.
Working together to further deepen our strategic partnership@SecPompeo called on PM @narendramodi to exchange views on various aspects of Indo-US relationship. PM will meet President @realDonaldTrump on the sidelines of the upcoming #G20OsakaSummit pic.twitter.com/Jjjp9gTKbd
— Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) June 26, 2019
Later in the day, Pompeo is also scheduled to hold detailed discussions with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. The two leaders will also have a working lunch. During their meeting, Terrorism, H-1B visas, trade, India's arms deal with Russia and US sanctions on buying oil from Iran are likely to be the key issues the two leaders will discuss.
Ahead of the strategically important India-US talks, diplomatic sources on Tuesday said India meets the US waiver criteria for procuring the S-400 missile defence system from sanctions-hit Russia and asserted that New Delhi cannot “wish away†its defence ties with Moscow.
The meeting between Pompeo and the External Affairs Minister will be the first high-level interaction between India and US after the return of the Narendra Modi government to power. The US Secretary of State’s visit to India also comes ahead of a scheduled meeting between US President Donald Trump and Modi on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan later this week.
