Foreign Minister meets senior officials in US ahead of Jaishankar’s visit | Latest News India

Foreign Minister Vikram Misri met senior American officials in Washington for discussions on a range of bilateral, regional and global issues ahead of Foreign Minister S Jaishankar’s six-day visit to the US starting on Tuesday.

Misri, who traveled to the US before Jaishankar, met US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and Assistant Secretary of State for Management and Resources Rich Verma at the State Department on Monday. India’s envoy to the US, former foreign minister Vinay Kwatra, also took part in the meetings.

The meetings helped prepare the ground for Jaishankar’s December 24-29 visit, which is expected to be the last meeting between the Indian side and the outgoing Joe Biden administration. Jaishankar is also expected to meet members of Donald Trump’s transition team, who will take over as president next month.

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The State Department said on Monday that Jaishankar would meet his US counterparts to discuss bilateral, regional and global issues, but did not provide details of the planned meetings or his travel schedule.

“We look forward to further expanding #USIndia relations based on mutual trust, shared values ​​and prosperity for all,” Verma said on X about the meeting between him and Campbell and Misri and Kwatra.

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Earlier on Monday, Verma and other US officials met a group of India experts from various think tanks. Kwatra, Ashley Tellis, a former senior adviser at the US State Department, and Lisa Curtis of the Center for a New American Security also attended the meeting.

The meeting “celebrated our progress in trade, defense, people-to-people relations and our commitment to address global challenges together,” Verma said on X.

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In a presentation on ‘US-India Relations: By the Numbers’, Verma said two-way trade increased from $20 billion in 2000 to $195 billion in 2023, while defense trade increased in the same period rose from zero to 24 billion US dollars. He said bilateral trade is expected to cross $200 billion in 2024.

In 2023, the US emerged as the largest source of remittances to India, while India became the main partner for military exercises with the US in 2024, according to Verma. The joint exercises include Malabar (Navy), Yudh Abhyas (Army), Cape India (Air Force) and Vajra Prahar (Counter Terrorism).

The US Mission in India issued more than a million visas in 2023, while the number of Indian students in the US increased from 54,664 in 2000 to over 330,000 in 2023. The Indian diaspora in the US has grown from 1.9 million in 2000 to more than five million.

Verma noted that the Biden administration has appointed a record 130 Indian Americans to leadership positions and that there are plans to open two Indian consulates in Los Angeles and Boston, while the US plans to open new consulates in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad.