US secretary of state Blinken in Delhi on July 27

US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken will be in Delhi on July 27and 28with the key focus on Afghanistan, Quadand the Indo-Pacific.

Itis his first visit to India after taking chargeand he is the secondBiden administration official to visit Delhi this year. Earlier this year, United States Secretary of Defense, General (Retd.) Lloyd J. Austin had visited India.

According to the ministry of external affairs and US State department releases, he will be calling on PM Modi and hold talks with National Security Advisor(NSA)Ajit Doval and external affairs minister Dr. S Jaishankar.

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MEA in its release said Blinken's visit is an "opportunity to continue the high-level bilateral dialogue and bolster the India-US global strategic partnership" with both sides reviewing the "robust and multifaceted India-US bilateral relations, and potential for consolidating them further."

Itwill be the fourth meeting between Jaishankar and Blinken. Both had met threetimes previously - first on the sidelines of the G7 foreign ministers meet in London, then during EAM's bilateral visit to the US, and finally,on the sidelines of the G20 FMs meet in Italy.

US State Department said, during his Delhi visit he will discuss "a wide range of issues including continued cooperation on COVID-19 response efforts, Indo-Pacific engagement, shared regional security interests, shared democratic valuesand addressing climate crisis."

His visit is important also because PM Modi could travel to Washington later this year for the first Quad in-person meeting.

Quad members India, US, Australia, and Japanheld the first virtual meet earlier this yearwith the key outcome on the COVID-19vaccine initiative.

From Delhi, Blinken will also go to Kuwait.WION was the first channel to break the story about Blinken's visit to India earlier this week.