Indian Ambassador, US senior official hold second meeting in four days

Washington, Nov 7 (IANS) India’s Ambassador to the United States Vinay Kwatra met Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Paul Kapur at the State Department office in Washington, their second meeting in four days.

The State Department Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs posted on X on Thursday, quoting Paul Kapur, “I thank @AmbVMKwatra for visiting me at the @StateDept this morning. Discussed common interests and ways to advance the U.S.-India partnership. Looking forward to continuing the conversation.”

On Monday, the ambassador hosted Kapur at his residence in Washington.

Kwatra had posted on X, "Delighted to host Assistant Secretary Paul Kapur @State_SCA at India House. Had an engaging discussion on shared priorities and strengthening the India-US Bilateral Relations."

Their second meeting comes on a day when US President Donald Trump said he plans to visit India soon, praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a “great man” and his “friend.”

“He's a friend of mine, and we speak, and he wants me to go there. We'll figure that out. I'll go…He’s a great man and I’ll be going,” he told reporters at the White House on Thursday.

When asked if he would travel to India next year, Trump said, “it could be, yeah”. The US President also remembered his last visit to India in 2020, saying, “I had a great trip there with the Prime Minister.”

On October 22, Kapur, an Indian American security expert, was sworn in as the next Assistant Secretary, marking a key appointment of the Trump administration for the region.

He previously served from 2020 to 2021 on the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff, where he worked on issues related to South and Central Asia, Indo-Pacific strategy, and India-US relations.

Kupur has also led the India-US Track 1.5 dialogue and other strategic defence engagements between the two countries.

In early October, Kapur was confirmed by a Senate vote, along with the new US Ambassador to India, Sergio Gor.

During his Senate confirmation hearing in June, Kapur said his career “has come full circle,” having studied the region academically and now stepping into a leading diplomatic role.

“I can’t avoid the feeling of having come full circle. I was born in New Delhi, to an Indian father and an American mother. Although I visited India often during my childhood, I grew up in the United States as a thoroughly American kid, never imagining that my career would someday return me to the place where I was born,” he added.

On US ties with India, Kapur had stressed that the two countries “share a host of common interests.”

“The United States and India share a host of common interests: ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific region, which is not dominated by China; expanding bilateral trade, building our economic relationship so that it is more symmetrical and profitable; facilitating technology sharing and innovation; and ensuring access to the energy necessary to fuel our economies,” he noted.

On Pakistan, he said he would “pursue security cooperation where beneficial to US interests.”

The bureau plays a crucial role in shaping US policy on security, economic engagement, counterterrorism, and infrastructure development in the broader South and Central Asia region.

--IANS

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