Foreign Secretary to begin three-day visit on April 8
Amidst tensions over U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest threats against Iran and the deadline for a deal set to end, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri arrived in Washington on Tuesday for a three-day visit from April 8. Officials said the visit was scheduled in advance and was expected to review the India-U.S. bilateral ties.
However, it is likely that multilateral issues, including the ongoing U.S.-Israel war with Iran, as well as U.S. sanctions waivers on Russian and Iranian oil as well as for the Chabahar Port, will be on the agenda. Of these, the U.S. government’s sanctions waiver allowing the purchase of Russian oil and petroleum products is set to expire on April 11. Exemptions granted on Iranian oil purchase will expire on April 19 while that on India’s development of Chabahar will expire on April 26. These will lapse unless the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) extends them.
In addition, Mr. Misri is likely to have discussions on the next steps in the India-U.S. Bilateral Trade Agreement talks, which have run aground after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Mr. Trump’s tariffs in February, just weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mr. Trump agreed to finalise the deal.
“During the visit, the Foreign Secretary will hold discussions with senior officials of the U.S. administration on a wide range of issues, including trade, defence, science and technology, as well as regional and global developments of mutual interest,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, announcing Mr. Misri’s visit, adding that he would review the “full spectrum of India-U.S. bilateral relations and advance ongoing cooperation across key areas”.
Mr. Misri’s visit to the U.S. coincides with the visit of Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh as well as U.S. Ambassador to India and Special Envoy for the region Sergio Gor.
Significantly, Mr. Gor had a dinner scheduled with Mr. Trump on Tuesday evening at the White House, just prior to the deadline set by Mr. Trump (8 p.m. U.S. time, 6.30 a.m. Wednesday India time) for Iran to accept the U.S.’ demands and conclude a deal. Mr. Gor, who met Mr. Trump on April 1, was due to have a “closed to press” meeting over dinner with the U.S. President at 7 p.m. U.S. time. In a post, Mr. Trump had threatened that a “whole civilisation would die, never to be brought back again” if the Iranian government did not comply with his demands.
Mr. Gor, who is the US Special Envoy for South and Central Asia also met with Indian Ambassador to the U.S. Vinay Kwatra. “[I] respect and value his partnership, as we continue our robust efforts to achieve the goals agreed by our two leaders for the India-U.S. strategic ties,” Mr. Kwatra said in a social media post.
War, waivers, trade pact likely to be on Misri’s U.S. agenda
Foreign Secretary to begin three-day visit on April 8
Amidst tensions over U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest threats against Iran and the deadline for a deal set to end, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri arrived in Washington on Tuesday for a three-day visit from April 8. Officials said the visit was scheduled in advance and was expected to review the India-U.S. bilateral ties.
However, it is likely that multilateral issues, including the ongoing U.S.-Israel war with Iran, as well as U.S. sanctions waivers on Russian and Iranian oil as well as for the Chabahar Port, will be on the agenda. Of these, the U.S. government’s sanctions waiver allowing the purchase of Russian oil and petroleum products is set to expire on April 11. Exemptions granted on Iranian oil purchase will expire on April 19 while that on India’s development of Chabahar will expire on April 26. These will lapse unless the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) extends them.
In addition, Mr. Misri is likely to have discussions on the next steps in the India-U.S. Bilateral Trade Agreement talks, which have run aground after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Mr. Trump’s tariffs in February, just weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mr. Trump agreed to finalise the deal.
“During the visit, the Foreign Secretary will hold discussions with senior officials of the U.S. administration on a wide range of issues, including trade, defence, science and technology, as well as regional and global developments of mutual interest,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, announcing Mr. Misri’s visit, adding that he would review the “full spectrum of India-U.S. bilateral relations and advance ongoing cooperation across key areas”.
Mr. Misri’s visit to the U.S. coincides with the visit of Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh as well as U.S. Ambassador to India and Special Envoy for the region Sergio Gor.
Significantly, Mr. Gor had a dinner scheduled with Mr. Trump on Tuesday evening at the White House, just prior to the deadline set by Mr. Trump (8 p.m. U.S. time, 6.30 a.m. Wednesday India time) for Iran to accept the U.S.’ demands and conclude a deal. Mr. Gor, who met Mr. Trump on April 1, was due to have a “closed to press” meeting over dinner with the U.S. President at 7 p.m. U.S. time. In a post, Mr. Trump had threatened that a “whole civilisation would die, never to be brought back again” if the Iranian government did not comply with his demands.
Mr. Gor, who is the US Special Envoy for South and Central Asia also met with Indian Ambassador to the U.S. Vinay Kwatra. “[I] respect and value his partnership, as we continue our robust efforts to achieve the goals agreed by our two leaders for the India-U.S. strategic ties,” Mr. Kwatra said in a social media post.
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