US Deputy Secy of State to visit New Delhi for bilateral meetings, India Ideas Summit

US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy R. Sherman, America's second-highest-ranking diplomat, will visit India next month, informed the US Department of State on Monday. According to the statement released on 27 September, Sherman will attend a series of bilateral meetings, civil society events, and the India Ideas Summit. Deputy Secretary Sherman will be in New Delhi, India on 6 October for a series of bilateral meetings, civil society events, and the India Ideas Summit. Next day, she will travel to Mumbai, India for engagements with business and civil society.

Apart from India, she will also travel to Geneva, Switzerland on 29 September to lead the US interagency delegation. The US diplomat will also hold a meeting with Russia on 20 September in Geneva. The Strategic Stability Dialogue follows from a commitment made by President Biden and Russian President Putin in their June 2021 Geneva meeting to have a deliberate and robust dialogue that will seek to lay the groundwork for future arms control and risk reduction measures. Deputy Secretary Sherman will also travel to Bern to inaugurate the first US-Swiss Strategic Partnership Dialogue with Swiss State Secretary Livia Leu.

Sherman will fly to Islamabad to discuss the Afghanistan issue

She will then travel to Tashkent, Uzbekistan where she will meet with senior officials and civil society on 4 October, after which the US delegation will move to India. Before the completion of the trip, Sherman will visit Islamabad, Pakistan on 7-8 October to meet with senior officials. She will be the second-highest State Department official who will be visiting Islamabad after US President Joe Biden took oath this year. According to the experts familiar with the upcoming trip, they believe that the United State would appeal to Pakistan to help the US in maintaining peace and stability in Afghanistan. It is worth noting that Afghanistan has been facing multiple crises since the elected government failed and the Taliban took over the country. 

(With inputs from ANI)

(Image: ANI)