US defence secretary Mattis to visit India, meet PM Modi next week

Smita Sharma 

Tribune News Service 

New Delhi, September 23

Bilateral defence relations and situation in Afghanistan and India’s increased role in the region will be centrestage as US defence secretary Mattis travels to India. One of the top faces in the Donald Trump administration, Jim Mattis is the first cabinet minister in the current government to visit India. 

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi held summit-level talks with Trump at the White House in June this year. 

Mattis will hold talks with his indian counterpart Nirmala Sitharaman and meet with Prime Minister Modi while in India from September 26 to 28. He will also attend a wreath laying ceremony at the India Gate.

A US Embassy press release read, “Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis will embark on Sunday, to underscore the enduring US commitment to strategic partner India.”

“The secretary will emphasize that the United States views India as a valued and influential partner, with broad mutual interests extending well beyond South Asia,” the statement said. 

Unveiling his Afghanistan and larger South Asia strategy after  months of review, Trump had outlined his expectations of India’s role in the region while coming down sharply on Pakistan, demanding it dismantled the safe havens of terror on its soil. 

In what sounded as transactional Trump said, “India makes billions of dollars from us in trade, so we expect them to play a greater role in Afghanistan, especially in economic and development assistance.” 

New Delhi had welcomed the policy while underlining that it is already doing its fair share in civilian and development assistance to the war torn country. 

The situation in the Indo Pacific with North Korean nuclear threats and China's aggression is also likely to figure in the wider discussions 

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, meanwhile, held wide ranging talks with Secretary of State Tex Tillerson both bilaterally as well as on a trilateral forum with Japan along sidelines of the UN General Assembly .Swaraj raised the tricky issues of H1B visas and DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) affecting Indians and the diaspora with her counterpart.