US-WH Confirms NSA Visited Delhi As DC Bolsters Ties Ahead Of Modi Trip

The White House has confirmed that White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan visited the Indian capital New Delhi 13-14 June for talks with PM Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, and Indian NSA Ajit Doval. The visit comes days ahead of Modi's state visit to the US on 21 June.

• White House statement: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statement...
• Statement says that Sullivan and Modi "discussed a range of strategic, regional, and bilateral issues including steps to advance the strategic technology and defense partnership between the United States and India."
• The US continues to seek a closer trading as well as geostrategic relationship with India, seeing the most populous nation on Earth as an important potential partner in countering the rise of China.
• The Economic Times of India reportsSullivan and Doval "[...] devoting considerable focus on the role of China in Asia and the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). It has been learnt that China’s expanding footprints across Asia with specific focus on its long-term designs in the IOR received considerable focus in the talks [...] China has been expanding its presence in Myanmar besides Pakistan through economic corridors that would enable Beijing to project power across the Indian Ocean Region in the years to come,"