US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Wednesday met with Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on his first official visit to India
Swaraj after meeting Tillerson in New Delhi said, ‘India has agreed to hold talks on Afghanistan with the United States and Kabul.’
‘India wishes to discuss deepening economic ties with the United States’ further says Swaraj.
Tillerson, who arrived on Tuesday night after meeting Pakistan’s top civil and military leadership in Islamabad, will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi later during his visit.
The Secretary of State earlier laid a wreath at a memorial to India´s independence movement leader Mahatma Gandhi, removing his shoes to approach a pillar marking the spot where Gandhi was shot dead on January 30, 1948.
Support for efforts to bolster the Afghan government, China´s influence, and other Asian security issues are expected to dominate talks in New Delhi, officials said.
Tillerson last week called for deeper cooperation with India in the face of rising Chinese influence in Asia and said Washington wanted to promote a “free and open” region led by prosperous democracies.
India welcomed the comments, saying they “highlighted our shared commitment to a rule-based international order”.
On Tuesday, Tillerson met Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and other high-ranking Pakistani officials during his tour to South Asia and the Gulf region.
During the meeting, the US Secretary of State underscored Pakistan’s regional importance. “Pakistan is important regionally to our joint goals of providing peace and security to the region and providing an opportunity for greater economic relationship,” he said.
PM Abbasi said that Pakistan remains committed to the war against terrorism and is also looking forward to moving ahead with the US and building a tremendous relationship.
The US Embassy, in a statement released, said the Secretary of State reiterated US President Trump’s message that Pakistan must increase its efforts to “eradicate militants and terrorists operating within the country”.
During the meeting, Tillerson also expressed appreciation for Pakistan’s sacrifices in the fight against terrorism.
Tillerson’s visit
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has arrived in Islamabad as part of his tour to South Asia and the Gulf region.
According to a statement by the US State Department on October 19, Tillerson will meet with senior Pakistani leaders to discuss matters related to the bilateral relations between the two countries.
On Monday, Tillerson met Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at the Bagram Airbase after he landed in Afghanistan on a surprise visit.
Addressing the media there, Tillerson said he will pressure Islamabad to take action on the support Taliban and other “terrorist organisations” receive in the country.
Islamabad needed to “take a clear-eyed view of the situation that they are confronted with in terms of the number of terrorist organisations that find safe haven inside” the country, he told reporters, according to a pool report.
“We want to work closely (with) Pakistan to create a more stable and secure Pakistan as well,” Tillerson said.Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has taken a firm stand against joining the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) during his recent visit to India, said a Tolo News report.
Ghani has said that he would not join CPEC if Islamabad refused to permit connectivity between India and Afghanistan, according to India’s Live Mint news portal in the report.
It said the Afghan president also rejected what he termed a “Pakistan-managed” effort to broker peace in Afghanistan.
Ghani’s refusal came just a week after the recent four-nation Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QGC), comprising Afghanistan, China, Pakistan and the United States, talks in Oman aimed at getting the Taliban to the peace talks tables.
During his speech at the Vivekananda International Foundation think tank in New Delhi, Ghani said Afghanistan was fully capable of concluding a peace process on its own.
“Our approach to internal peace is to own it through Afghan government-led processes,” Ghani said.
“We would like a push factor from Pakistan vis-a-vis the Taliban, not a Pakistan-managed peace process,” he added.
Pakistan has long been urging Kabul to eradicate “sanctuaries” for militants on its soil while Afghanistan, in turn, accuses Islamabad of sheltering the leadership of the Afghan Taliban militants who are battling the Western-backed government in Kabul.
Both countries deny aiding militants, but relations between the two have soured in recent years.
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