Kicking off the Washington segment of his U.S. trip, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had a meeting with U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. As The Hindu went to press, Mr. Jaishankar was also in talks with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The meetings are routine but also particularly significant given the recent and serious diplomatic challenges in the India-Canada relationship following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegation that the Indian government was linked to the assassination of a Khalistani separatist leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in British Columbia.
Officials have not, thus far, commented in any detail on the agenda of either the White House or State Department meetings, which come three months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to Washington and entail follow up work from that visit. Mr. Modi’s June visit saw the announcement of a large set of programmes, covering a broad range of domains from space to health. Mr. Jaishankar also routinely visits Washington DC in the autumn, following his visit to New York for the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session.
