US State Secy Antony Blinken to visit Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, India from Feb 28-Mar 3

Washington [US], February 24 (ANI): United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and India from February 28 to March 3, the US State Department said on Thursday, adding that he will travel to New Delhi on March 1 to attend the G20 Foreign Ministers meeting.

During his visit to India, Blinken will hold a meeting with officials of the Union government and the civil society to reaffirm the strong partnership between the two nations. India assumed the G20 Presidency on December 1. “On March 1, he will travel to New Delhi to participate in the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, which will focus on strengthening multilateralism and deepening cooperation on food and energy security, sustainable development, counter-narcotics, global health, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, and gender equality and women’s empowerment,” the US State Department said in a statement.

It further said, “He will meet with Indian government officials and civil society to reaffirm our strong partnership.” Before travelling to India, Blinken will visit Kazakhstan’s Astana on February 28, where he will meet with senior Kazakh officials to deepen bilateral cooperation between US and Kazakhstan. He will also participate in a C5+1 Ministerial with representatives of each of the five Central Asian states.

The C5+1 Ministerial will focus on bolstering economic, energy and environmental, and security cooperation among the United States, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, the US State Department said in its statement. “On February 28, he will visit Astana, Kazakhstan, where he will meet with senior Kazakh officials to deepen our bilateral cooperation,” US State Department said.

It added, “He then will participate in a C5+1 Ministerial with representatives of each of the five Central Asian states, to reaffirm the United States’ commitment to the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Central Asian countries, and to collaborate with the region on solutions to shared global challenges.”

On the margins of the C5+1 ministerial, Blinken will meet senior government officials from the Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan to discuss opportunities for bilateral cooperation. After his visit to Uzbekistan, Antony Blinken will travel to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where he will meet with Uzbekistani officials to further advance ties between the two nations on bilateral and regional issues.

After travelling to Uzbekistan, Blinken will travel to India on March 1.