WASHINGTON: In the first trip to India by a senior American official after the Modi government came to power for the third term, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan will be in New Delhi on Monday for the second meeting of the initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET).
Sullivan was scheduled to visit India earlier in February but due to other pressing commitments in the US, the annual review meeting was rescheduled for June 17-18.
People familiar with the developments told ANI that Sullivan, along with Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, and other top officials, will meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
US National Security Adviser Sullivan is also scheduled to meet his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval. This meeting will be followed by a joint statement between the two nations underscoring the progress made and the importance of the iCET mechanism for the two countries.
The two are also expected to discuss the situation in West Asia during their bilateral talks.
Meanwhile, on Sunday at Burgenstock, while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a Ukraine peace summit hosted by Switzerland, Sulivan also informed that he would be travelling directly from Switzerland to India for the second meeting of the iCET initiative.
Earlier, on June 6, US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed Sullivan's upcoming visit to New Delhi during the call made by President Biden to congratulate PM Modi on his electoral win in the Lok Sabha polls.
"President Joe Biden, spoke today with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India to congratulate him and the National Democratic Alliance on their historic victory in India's general election," the White House statement said.
Both leaders stressed their commitment to deepening the US-India Comprehensive and Global Strategic Partnership.
"The two leaders emphasised their commitment to deepening the US-India Comprehensive and Global Strategic Partnership and to advancing their shared vision of a free, open and prosperous Indo-Pacific region," the statement added.
"The two leaders also discussed National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan's upcoming travel to New Delhi to engage the new government on shared U.S.-India priorities, including the trusted, strategic technology partnership," it read.