US DEFENCE SECRETARY LLOYD AUSTIN TO VISIT INDIA NEXT WEEK

Wed 10 March 2021:

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin will visit India next week along with Japan and South Korea, the Pentagon announced on Wednesday, in the first overseas trip of a senior member of the new Biden Administration.

This is the first time that India has been included in the itinerary of the first overseas trip of a US Defence Secretary.

“Lloyd Austin will meet with his counterparts and other senior officials to discuss the importance of international defence relationships and reinforce the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific region – founded on respect for international rules, laws, and norms,” the Pentagon said.

Lloyd Austin will embark on his first overseas trip on March 13 to visit US Indo-Pacific Command Headquarters in Hawaii, US troops and senior government leaders in Japan and the Republic of Korea, and senior government leaders in India, it said.

The date of Secretary Austin’s visit to India has not been announced. However, it would be the last leg of his maiden foreign trip.

“In India, Secretary Austin will meet with his counterpart, Minister of Defence Rajnath Singh, and other senior national security leaders to discuss deepening the US-India Major Defence Partnership and advancing cooperation between our countries for a free, prosperous and open Indo-Pacific and Western Indian Ocean Region,” the Pentagon said.