New Delhi: Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu will visit India and Bangladesh starting today, January 12-15, for meetings on a range of priorities including energy, trade, security cooperation, religious freedom, labor, and human rights. In New Delhi, the Assistant Secretary will participate in the India-U.S. Forum. Assistant Secretary Lu will also meet with senior Indian officials to discuss ways in which the United States and India can further expand energy, trade, security, and human rights cooperation.
The sixth India-US Forum is scheduled to take place in New Delhi from January 13-14 and will be addressed by External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar, and US Secretary of state Antony Blinken, among other top officials from the two sides. The forum will be convened by the Ananta Centre and the Ministry of External Affairs.
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Other officials who will speak at the forum will be Deputy National Security Advisor Vikram Misri, Senior Director for Defense, White House National Security Council Cara Abercrombie, Assistant Secretary, South & Central Asian Affairs, Department of State, Donald Lu, Additional Shearingtary, Americas Division, Ministry of External Affairs, Vani Rao.
The India-US ties have seen increased engagement in the past few years, from trade to people-to-people ties to political convergences to Defence. Both countries are working together under QUAD, I2U2 (India-Israel/ UAE-USA), and IPEF (Indo-Pacific Economic Framework). While in Bangladesh, Assistant Secretary Lu will meet with senior Bangladeshi officials and civil society leaders to discuss strengthening our bilateral relationship, expanding economic engagement, and hear their perspectives on labor and human rights.
