"India, US Believe In Fundamental Freedoms": Antony Blinken Ahead Of Talks

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in India on a two-day visit with an extensive agenda featuring the rapidly evolving security situation in Afghanistan, boosting Indo-Pacific engagement and ways to enhance COVID-19 response efforts, among others. He will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi this evening and also hold talks with Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. "The Indian people and the American people believe in human dignity and equality of opportunity, the rule of law, fundamental freedoms including freedom of religion and belief . . . these are the fundamental tenets of democracies like ours," he said today, speaking to a group of civil society leaders at a hotel in New Delhi. This is Mr Blinken's first visit to the country since joining President Joe Biden's administration and the third by a high-ranking Biden administration official after it came to power in January.