US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday and discussed various aspects of the bilateral relationship to strengthen the India-US strategic partnership.
Pompeo, who arrived in Delhi on Tuesday night, will hold detailed discussions with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in the afternoon and have a working lunch with him.
“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.
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.
Besides India’s missile defence system deal with Russia, terrorism, H-1B visas, trade and the situation arising out of US sanctions on buying oil from Iran, are likely to be discussed on Wednesday during the talks between Jaishankar and Pompeo.
Pompeo’s talks in Delhi will be the first high-level interaction between the two countries after the return of the Modi government to power last month.Pompeo’s visit comes ahead of a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Modi on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Osaka, Japan, later this week.
