Liz Truss, Nick Carter to visit India; Afghanistan and Indo-Pacific top agenda
The Hindu
Discussions also likely on progress on economic issues and post-COVID recovery
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and outgoing Chief of Defence Staff General Nick Carter will visit India this week even as the Indo-U.K. naval exercises involving the Carrier Strike Group (CSG) in the Bay of Bengal gets under way from October 21-27, and ahead of a pending visit by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, sources said here.
While the strategic purpose of the visits is to discuss the U.K.’s Indo-Pacific strategy and the newly announced Australia-U.K.-U.S. (AUKUS) alliance, both sides are also expected to focus on the situation in Afghanistan, amidst the perception in Delhi that the British government had played a major role in talks with the Taliban that led to them taking control of the country.
The visits, beginning October 22, are also being scheduled ahead of the upcoming Climate Change COP26 summit opening in Glasgow on October 31-November 1. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is likely to visit Italy for the G-20 summit on October 30-31, is yet to decide on his plans for COP26, said officials.