NEW DELHI: External affairs minister S Jaishankar will make a six-day visit to the US from Tuesday, the first by a senior Indian functionary since Donald Trump won the US presidential election in November.
Jaishankar will meet his counterparts to discuss bilateral and global issues, the external affairs ministry said in a brief statement on Monday without giving details.
Jaishankar will visit the United States on December 24-29 and will also chair a conference of India’s consul generals in that country, the statement said. “He will be meeting counterparts to discuss key bilateral, regional and global issues,” it added.
People familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity that Jaishankar is expected to meet his US counterpart Antony Blinken and other officials in what is likely to be the Indian side’s final engagement with the outgoing Joe Biden administration.
It is not immediately clear whether Jaishankar will meet any member of the incoming Trump administration. The people, however, said such interactions could not be ruled out. Trump is set to begin his second term as US president on January 20.
In recent weeks, Jaishankar has said that India is better placed than many other countries to build deeper ties with the incoming Trump administration, given the good relationship between Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Republican Party leader’s positive view of India.
However, Jaishankar has also pointed out that India, like other countries, may have to cope with some issues under an administration led by Trump.
In recent weeks, concerns have grown in New Delhi following Trump’s remarks about hitting India and several other countries with high tariffs. At the same time, experts believe the change in administration in Washington is unlikely to impact the growing collaboration between India and the US on defence, security and emerging and critical technologies.
Bilateral ties largely witnessed an upswing in Trump’s first term during 2017-2021, and these ties were further expanded under the Biden administration, especially on strategic issues and through mechanisms such as the Quad. These moves coincided with efforts by Washington to ramp up relations with New Delhi to counter-balance China’s aggressive actions across the Indo-Pacific.