Tillerson is on a three-day visit to India.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who arrived in India on Tuesday on a three-day visit to the country, will meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other Indian leaders as part of the Trump administration’s policy to strengthen the cooperation with each other.
On Wednesday, India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj welcomed Tillerson on his maiden visit to India as the Secretary of State. The leaders held talks and are expected to hold a joint press conference.
Tillerson started his day by meeting National Security Advisor Ajit Doval at 10 a.m. after which he paid tribute at Gandhi Smriti Museum in New Delhi.
The US secretary of state will also meet business executives and the staff and families of the US Embassy in New Delhi.
Tillerson’s visit to India assumes importance in the wake of the Trump administration’s South Asia strategy unveiled in August.
Last week, while speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington, Tillerson had said the US wants to deepen the cooperation with India to tackle the growing Chinese influence in Asia.
“India and the United States should be in the business of equipping other countries to defend their sovereignty, build greater connectivity, and have a louder voice in a regional architecture that promotes their interests and develops their economies,” Tillerson said.
Washington is mulling alternative plans to counter growing Chinese aggression in Asia. Sending a strong message to Beijing, the Secretary of State had said that “the United States seeks constructive relations with China, but we will not shrink from China’s challenges to the rules-based order and where China subverts the sovereignty of neighboring countries and disadvantages the US and our friends.”
India welcomed the statement saying that Tillerson had made a significant policy statement on US-India relations and its future and highlighted the shared commitment of both the countries to a rule-based international order.
On Tuesday, during his surprise visit to Afghanistan, Tillerson underlined that the US is seeking a strategic partnership with India which is not region-specific.
The US seeks India’s help in assisting Afghanistan to strengthen its government and enhance its socio-economic fabric by developing better infrastructure.
Reiterating its stance on terrorism, Washington has started pushing Pakistan to take strict measures to counter terror havens in their land. During his Afghan visit, Tillerson reiterated Washington’s stance on Pakistan saying that the US has asked Islamabad to “take action to undermine the support that the Taliban receives and the other terrorist organizations receive in Pakistan.”
However, the low-key reception given to Tillerson in Pakistan, on Tuesday, hints that his statement didn’t go down well the administration.