Indian PM Modi receives Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin

Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin arrived in India for the first face-to-face meetings between New Delhi and the Biden administration, with shared alarm about China set to figure highly, AFP reported.

India is a key US ally in the region and the visit comes hot on the heels of frosty first talks between Secretary of State Antony Blinken with top Chinese officials in Alaska.

Prior to that, Austin and Blinken visited Japan and South Korea, two other important partners in the Asia-Pacific region where China’s growing assertiveness has alarmed its neighbors, AFP reported.

The two also attended a virtual summit between leaders of the so-called “Quad”, which groups the United States, Australia, Japan and India and is seen as a check on China’s ambitions.

The two-day visit to New Delhi sees Austin meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a senior US official said, as well as Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and Ajit Doval, a national security adviser.

Modi said on Twitter: “Pleasure to meet US @SecDef Lloyd Austin. Conveyed my best wishes to @POTUS @JoeBiden. India and US are committed to our strategic partnership that is a force for global good.”