US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to arrive in India for 3-day visit today

Pompeo is scheduled to meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday. Jaishankar will also host a lunch for his US counterpart.Pompeo's visit will provide "an important opportunity for both sides to explore further ways to strengthen India-US strategic partnership".

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to arrive in India for 3-day visit today IMAGE: PTI

New Delhi: US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo will arrive here on Tuesday night, as part of his three-day visit to India. This will be the first high-level engagement between India and the US after NDA's return to power for a second term. Pompeo is scheduled to meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday. Jaishankar will also host a lunch for his US counterpart. Pompeo's visit will provide "an important opportunity for both sides to explore further ways to strengthen India-US strategic partnership", according to MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar. The two sides will hold high-level engagements on matters of mutual interest including bilateral, regional and global issues. Pompeo's visit to India comes in the backdrop of escalating tensions between the US and Iran and trade differences between New Delhi and Washington. On June 15, India imposed retaliatory tariffs on American goods, less than two weeks after Trump announced an end to preferential trade treatment for India over the trade barriers. In addition, Pompeo's visit will further prepare grounds for a summit meeting between US President Donald Trump and Modi in Osaka on the sidelines of the G20 meeting scheduled to be held on June 28-29. On June 20, Pompeo spoke with Jaishankar to congratulate him on his appointment as External Affairs Minister and reiterated the US' strong commitment towards advancing strategic partnership between the two countries. "Secretary Pompeo and Minister Jaishankar also discussed shared US and Indian objectives in safeguarding a free and open Indo-Pacific, US-India security cooperation and the US-India economic partnership," spokesperson of the US State Department, Morgan Ortagus, said in a statement.