Hyderabad: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made headlines when he travelled around New Delhi in an auto-rickshaw during his visit to India for the G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting. A tweet posted by Us Embassy India said, “Who says official motorcades have to be boring? Watch @SecBlinken cruise in style with the longest-serving locally employed staff at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi. Our famous #AutoGang and their signature "autocade" followed close behind. What an entrance!”.
In a tweet, Blinken shared a series of pictures that included one after attending a meeting of Quad foreign ministers and another of him emerging from the three-wheeler. He was seen dressed in a suit and grinning from ear to ear. He also remarked that the friendship between the US and India was consequential.
In a tweet he wrote “A pleasure to meet with our staff from USAndIndia, USAndHyderabad, USAndKolkata , USAndChennai , USAndMumbai and their families. I’m deeply grateful for their hard work and commitment to strengthen our people to people ties and advance the US-India strategic partnership”.
Mentioning that India-US friendship is consequential, in another tweet he said, “My visit reflects the power of our partnership and the strong commitment we share to safeguarding the Indo-Pacific. Thankful for India’s hospitality and leadership, and ready to partner on the ambitious agenda for their G20 Presidency”.
Blinken's visit to India was part of the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting, where the focus was on strengthening multilateralism and deepening cooperation on a range of issues such as food and energy security, sustainable development, counter-narcotics, global health, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, and gender equality and women's empowerment. State Department Spokesperson Ned Price stated that Blinken would meet with Indian government officials and civil society to reaffirm the strong partnership between the two nations.
Blinken's visit to India lasted until March 3, after which he participated in a C5+1 Ministerial with representatives from five Central Asian countries. The purpose of the C5+1 Ministerial was to reaffirm the United States' commitment to the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Central Asian countries and to collaborate on solutions to shared global challenges. The meeting focused on enhancing economic, energy, environmental, and security cooperation between the United States and the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan.
Overall, Blinken's visit to India was seen as a positive step towards strengthening ties between the US and India, particularly given the range of issues that were discussed at the G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting. By traveling in an auto-rickshaw, Blinken also sent a message that he was willing to embrace Indian culture and customs and was keen to build strong ties between the two nations.
