Kerry, Sushma To Chair India-U.S. Strategic Dialogue

NEW DELHI: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who has said that the U.S. is prepared to work "hand in hand" with the Narendra Modi government, is to co-chair the fifth annual India-U.S. Strategic Dialogue with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

Kerry, who arrived on a three-day visit on Wednesday at the head of a high-power delegation, is meeting National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the morning ahead of his meeting with Sushma Swaraj.

The U.S. delegation comprises Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker as well as State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki. He will call on Prime Minister Modi on Friday.

On Wednesday evening, he met Indian business leaders ahead of his meeting with the top Indian officials.

This is the first cabinet-level meeting between the Barack Obama administration and the new Indian government that came to power on May 26.

Kerry, in a signed piece in the Economic Times on Wednesday, said the long-standing partnership between the U.S. and India is on the cusp of "an historic transformation" and that the U.S. will work "hand in hand with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government" to power India's rise economically and strategically.

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