US Top Diplomat Blinken to Visit India, Kuwait

WASHINGTON - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to India next week, the State Department said on Friday, in the top U.S. diplomat's first visit to the world's largest democracy and an important U.S. ally in Asia.

Blinken will also visit Kuwait and meet senior officials there at the end of the July 26-29 trip. The United States sees India as an important partner in efforts to stand up to China's increasingly assertive behavior. Blinken's trip will follow a visit by Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman to China and coincide with one to Southeast Asia by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. In New Delhi on Wednesday, Blinken will meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.