Sullivan’s last visit to India before Trump administration takes over on Jan 20

To meet Ajit K Doval and other top government officials for a final round of talks on a wide range of bilateral, regional and global issues on his India visit January 5 and 6

Washington: Outgoing US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan will travel to India January 5 and 6 to meet his counterpart Ajit K Doval and other top government officials for a final round of talks with them on a wide range of bilateral, regional and global issues and to finalise some ongoing initiatives that were important priorities for them to wrap up, the White House said on Friday.

Sullivan, 48, the youngest national security advisor when President Joe Bident appointed him on January 20, 2021, would also deliver a major India-centric foreign policy speech at IIT, New Delhi during his last trip to India before leaving office. He would be succeeded by Congressman Michael Waltz on January 20, when Donald J Trump would be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States.

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While there, the main purpose will be a capstone engagement and dialogue with his counterpart, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, a senior administration official told reporters during a conference call Friday afternoon.

It will cover a range of issues across the breadth of our partnership, but with a specific focus on the strategic technology cooperation that we have had across a range of domains, from defense to space to artificial intelligence, the official added.

From the views of the Biden administration, the US-Indian relationship has not only been one of the bright points and a real foreign policy prairie and area of legacy achievement for the Biden administration, but it is also a relationship where they have seen continued bipartisan support and momentum from administration to administration in the United States, said the official.

Sullivan will deliver a speech at IIT Delhi, in which he will emphasise how India is central not only for US priorities in the Indo-Pacific but globally. “We see this as a partnership that is really not subject to huge partisan swings in the United States but has had a really enduring basis of support that we expect will continue to move forward,” said the official.

During the visit, he will also meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, as well as other Indian leaders. The US delegation led by Sullivan will also have members from other government departments.