Foreign Secretary Misri reviews defence, trade ties, West Asia with senior US officials
Washington (PTI): India's Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri met senior US officials here and discussed ways to further deepen the defence and trade relations and exchanged views on the developments in the Indo-Pacific and West Asia.
On a three-day visit here, Misri met under secretaries Michael Duffey and Elbridge Colby in the Department of Defence, and under secretaries Jeffrey Kessler and William Kimmitt in the Department of Commerce.
“Sustaining the momentum of India-US defence exchanges, Foreign Secretary Shri Vikram Misri had another wide ranging conversation with Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby @USWPColby at the Pentagon, covering the ongoing developments in the Indo-Pacific region and West Asia,” the Indian Embassy in the US said in a post on X.
Colby visited India last month and met Misri in New Delhi on the sidelines of the India-US Defence Policy Group meeting.
Misri also had a “fruitful interaction” with Duffey, the Under Secretary in the Department of Defence for Acquisition and Sustainment, at the Pentagon near here.
“Foreign Secretary Shri Vikram Misri had a fruitful interaction with the Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment Mike Duffey @USDASDuffey at the Pentagon,” the Indian Embassy said in another post on X.
The two principals discussed ways to further deepen the defence industrial, technology and supply chain linkages between India and the US, in line with the ambitious goals laid out in the Framework for the bilateral Major Defence Partnership signed last year, the embassy said.
Misri also met under secretaries Jeffrey Kessler and William Kimmitt in the Department of Commerce here.
Kessler is the Under Secretary for Bureau of Industry and Security, while Kimmitt is the Under Secretary for International Trade Administration.
“Foreign Secretary Shri Vikram Misri met Under Secretaries Jeffrey Kessler @BISgov and William Kimmitt @TradeGov to expand cooperation in commercial and critical technologies – key to transforming the India-US partnership for the 21st century. They also discussed building resilient and trusted supply chains,” the embassy said.
Misri is visiting the US to review bilateral trade and defence relations and discuss global developments, including the crisis in West Asia.
His visit comes as both the US and India work to stabilise the ties after a spell of uncertainty and strain.
The relations witnessed a major downturn after the US imposed punitive tariffs on India, and President Donald Trump made controversial assertions regarding his role in de-escalating the India-Pakistan military clashes last May.
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Formulate model SOP for trekking safety in Karnataka: Minister Khandre tells officials
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Minister for Forest, Ecology and Environment Eshwar Khandre has instructed authorities to formulate a standard operating procedure (SOP) for trekking safety, intended to serve as a national model.
The Minister issued the instruction in writing to the chief wildlife warden in the wake of the disappearance of a woman from Kerala in the dense Tadiandamol forest, and the search for a minor girl in Chandradrona hills, his office said in a release on Thursday.
Like the ‘e-Gastu’ app already developed by the Forest Department and the ‘MStripes’ app used in tiger reserves, if a similar kind of app is temporarily installed on the mobile phones of trekkers during the trek, it will be easier to track those who go astray, hence the Forest Minister has directed to take steps to develop the app and provide group insurance to trekkers, it said.
In addition, Khandre has suggested that nature guides should be equipped with wireless communication sets and they should be held accountable for safety and coordination of trekking groups under their supervision, it added.
