New Delhi: Amid Taliban capturing power in Afghanistan and the concern that Pakistan might persuade the extremist group to intensify its terror activities in India, US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman in the Biden administration is visiting New Delhi on Wednesday. She is slated to hold a series of bilateral meetings, civil society events and later participate in the India Ideas Summit organised by the US India Business Council.
Sherman, America’s second-highest-ranking diplomat, is scheduled to visit Mumbai on Wednesday where she will hold meetings with the business community and civil society. Her visit comes days after Prime Minister Modi held a bilateral summit with US President Joe Biden.
Sherman's visit to India assumes significance as the growing axis between Taliban, Pakistan and China could prove to be a threat for India. Moreover, India and the US are also scheduled to hold their first 2+2 summit under the Biden administration in November this year.
After her two-day visit to India, Sherman will fly to Islamabad to meet with the officials in Pakistan on October 7-8. Sherman is the second-highest-ranking American diplomat and the highest State Department official to visit Pakistan under the Biden presidency. Her visit to Pakistan is seen as a significant one as Prime Minister Imran Khan recently blamed the US for the crisis in Afghanistan during his address in the United Nations General Assembly.
Last month, CIA head William Burns had visited India and later visited Islamabad to discuss the fast-evolving security situation in Afghanistan. During his visit to Washington in September this year, India’s foreign Secretary Harsh V Shringla met Wendy Sherman and held discussions on advancing the India-US Strategic Partnership across sectors, including healthcare, defence, security, trade, investment, science and technology, climate change, clean energy and people-to-people ties.
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