NSA Ajit Doval, US counterpart Jake Sullivan hold bilateral meeting in Delhi

New Delhi [India], June 14 : National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and his US counterpart Jake Sullivan held a bilateral meeting in Delhi on Wednesday.

National Security Advisor of the US Jake Sullivan is on a two-day India visit at the invitation of Doval from June 13-14. During the delegation-level talks held today in the national capital, both NSAs discussed issues of mutual interest.

Sullivan is accompanied by a delegation comprising senior US government officials and leaders from the US industry. His visit to the national capital comes in the run-up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's upcoming state visit to the US.

Earlier today, the US National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, met with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to discuss preparations for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US and global strategic developments from the perspective of the India-US partnership.

Following their meeting, Jaishankar tweeted, "Great to meet US NSA @jakesullivan46 in South Block today morning. Our conversation focused on preparing for PM @narendramodi's upcoming US visit. Also discussed global strategic developments from the perspective of our partnership."

A day ago, Sullivan called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed matters of bilateral cooperation here in Delhi.

During the meeting, the two leaders also reviewed progress under the India-US Initiative on Critical & Emerging Technologies (iCET).

After the meeting, a tweet by Prime Minister Modi said, "Glad to receive US National Security Advisor @JakeSullivan46. Reviewed progress under India-US Initiative on Critical & Emerging Technologies (iCET) and other issues of bilateral cooperation. Look forward to meeting @POTUS @JoeBiden during my upcoming State Visit to the US."

Doval and Sullivan have frequently had in-depth meetings on a wide range of bilateral, regional, and international issues.

Later, they both attended the second Track 1.5 discourse hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

The first edition of this dialogue was organised by the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington, DC on January 30 this year, according to the Ministry of External Affairs.

Addressing the gathering in Delhi, Sullivan said that US President Joe Biden was thrilled to see what is happening here and to watch how things unfold.

Earlier, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval met each other in New Delhi and discussed Indo-Pacific, and cooperation in specific niche technologies in maritime, military and aerospace domains.

According to government officials, the two leaders also spoke on the greater transfer of technology, co-production and building indigenous capacities in line with India's Make in India and Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiatives.

Austin, who arrived in India concluded a roadmap for Defence Industrial Cooperation with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.