India’s Foreign Secy Vinay Kwatra completes two-day Washington visit

Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra on Friday concluded a two-day visit to Washington D.C. during which he held discussions with his counterparts at the US State Department and the National Security Council.

The Indian embassy said Kwatra’s meetings were in “keeping with the tradition of regular high-level exchanges between the two countries and provided an opportunity to further advance our growing and future-oriented partnership”.

Among officials he met were Richard Verma, the US Deputy Secretary of State, which is the highest position held by an Indian-American at the State Department; and Kurt Campbell, recently appointed the US Deputy Secretary of State, who is also the Biden administration’s czar on the Indo-Pacific and the Quad — a group of Indo-Pacific countries, India, the US, Japan and Australia.

Though not related to the visit, according to reports Kwatra is also one of the two frontrunners in the race for the ambassadorship to the US, which is currently vacant.

The other contender is Vikram Misri, India’s Deputy National Security Adviser.