Sejuti Mourin: United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as well as Defense Secretary Jim Mattis are scheduled to travel to New Delhi in September for high-level talks, the Indian foreign ministry announced yesterday.
New Delhi, which has sought to counter Beijing’s expanding economic and military weight in the region, has reportedly felt a lack of enthusiasm from Washington, despite the two countries’ political and military ties expanding in recent years.
According to the Indian foreign ministry, Pompeo and Mattis will hold talks with India Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on September 6.
The talks were set for this month in Washington but as Pompeo had to travel to North Korea, there was a postponement.
The United States has emerged as a top arms supplier to India as New Delhi modernizes its Soviet-era military, selling more than $15 billion of weapons over the past decade.
Source: Reuters