The focus of the visit would be to prepare grounds for an in-person summit of leaders of the Quad grouping comprising India, Japan, Australia and the US in Washington later this year.
Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Dean Thompson made the remarks during a Congressional hearing on Democracy in the Indo-Pacific on Wednesday.
US had last March proposed retaliatory trade actions against India and other countries that imposed or were considering equalisation levy/digital services tax on e-commerce firms.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who is in the US now, met lawmakers there and discussed developments pertaining to Quad and cooperation on vaccines.
US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said this is a global health crisis, and the extraordinary circumstances of the Covid pandemic call for extraordinary measures.
Former US Ambassador Kenneth Juster says if India finally procures the surface-to-air missiles system, Washington should grant a waiver keeping in mind its larger policy goals.
Blinken spoke with Jaishankar to reaffirm the importance of the US-India relationship and cooperation on regional security issues, State Department spokesperson said.
While bond yields tend to fall amid low inflation & interest rate cuts, market experts say they’ve been rising due to concerns over tax collections, fiscal deficit & potential impact of US tariffs.
It is one of the most advanced long-range air defence and anti-missile radars. It has been acquired under an about USD 145-million deal signed in 2020.
In its toughest time in decades because of floods, Punjab would’ve expected PM Modi to visit. If he has the time for a Bihar tour, why not a short visit to next-door Punjab?
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