This is Blinken's first visit to India after assuming office as the US Secretary of State

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who arrived in India on Tuesday, is scheduled to call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi today before leaving for Kuwait as part of his two-nation tour. He will also hold talks with External affairs minister S Jaishankar and meet National security advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval.

Blinken is in India on a two-day visit to boost bilateral ties and deliberate on the evolving security situation in Afghanistan, expanding cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region under the framework of Quad and coordinated Covid-19 response.

Before leaving for India, Blinken had said that he was looking forward to consultations with partners of the US for further cooperation in support of its shared interests in the Indo-Pacific and Middle East. "Wheels up for my trip to New Delhi and Kuwait City. I look forward to consultations with our partners to further cooperation in support of our shared interests in the Indo-Pacific and Middle East," he tweeted.

This is Blinken's first visit to India after assuming office as the US Secretary of State. "Secretary Blinken's visit is an opportunity to continue the high-level bilateral dialogue and bolster the India-US global strategic partnership. Both sides will review the robust and multifaceted India-US bilateral relations, and potential for consolidating them further," the Ministry of External Affairs said last week.

Acting Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Dean Thompson on Friday said that the discussions will focus on expanding ties in areas of security, defence, cyber, and counterterrorism cooperation. "We collaborate across the government on these issues, including through regular US-India working group meetings, and we look forward to further strengthening our ties with India to ensure a safer and more secure world," he added.