United Nations sources added according to the US Mission to the UN that Nikki Haley, the first American of Indian descent to hold a cabinet level position in the US, begins a three day visit to India on Tuesday to advance relations between the two countries. Meanwhile Haley, who is the Permanent Representative to the UN with cabinet rank, is to meet senior Indian government officials and NGO and interfaith leaders to “underscore the US’ shared values and strong alliance with the people of India”.
According to the mission he is also scheduled to speak to a group of business and government leaders and representatives of students and civil society on “advancing the US India relations. Meanwhile the Trump Administration seeks to scale up relations with India with a view to making it an anchor of its emerging Indo-Pacific strategy as well as helping stabilize Afghanistan through its aid program.
Presently Haley, whose parents Ajit Singh Randhwa
and Raj Kaur Randhwa immigrated from Amritsar District, last visited India in
2013 when she was the governor of South Carolina. Accordingly Haley’s visit
comes ahead of the 2+2 Dialogue of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and
Defense Secretary James Mattis in Washington on July 6.
