Jaishankar, Blinken discussed advancing civil-nuke cooperation

India and the US have discussed efforts to advance the bilateral civil-nuclear cooperation and increase trade and investment between the two countries, a top American official has said a day after Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar met Deputy Secretary of State Anthony Blinken here.

Jaishankar in his meeting with Blinken discussed a range of bilateral and regional issues, during which efforts to advance civil-nuclear cooperation and to increase trade and investment came up, a State Department spokesperson said.

“They discussed a range of bilateral and regional issues including US-India efforts to advance our civil-nuclear cooperation and to increase bilateral trade and investment,” the official told PTI a day after the meeting between the two.

“The Deputy Secretary also expressed appreciation for India’s contributions to the global effort to address climate change and both countries’ historic signing of the Paris Agreement,” the official said yesterday.

Jaishankar’s visit to Washington came amid speculation that Prime Minister Narendra Modi may visit the US in June.

There has been no official word from either New Delhi or the White House in this regard however.

Last week, a bipartisan group of four American lawmakers in a letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan urged him to invite Modi to address a joint meeting of the US Congress during his visit, expected on June 7 and 8.

The visit would be Modi’s fourth trip to the United States in two years.