In India, she will meet with senior government officials to discuss deepening and enduring US-India partnership…reports Asian Lite News
US special envoy Uzra Zeya will travel to India next week, the US State Department said on Friday.
This visit comes a few weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent maiden State visit to the US. Uzra Zeya, US Under Secretary of State for democracy and human rights, will travel to India and Bangladesh July 8-14, informed US State Department.
In India, she will meet with senior government officials to discuss deepening and enduring US-India partnership, including advancing shared solutions to global challenges, democracy, regional stability, and cooperation on humanitarian relief, according to a press release.
Zeya’s upcoming trip follows a June visit by PM Modi where President Joe Biden and the Indian leader touted deals on defence and commerce aimed at countering China’s global influence.
In both countries, Under Secretary Zeya will engage with civil society organisations on freedom of expression and association, and inclusion of women and girls, persons with disabilities, and vulnerable groups, including marginalised religious and ethnic minorities, the release said.
Earlier, the special envoy had travelled to India in March last year, a trip that focused on collaboration on human rights, democratic governance and advancing humanitarian priorities.
Zeya was appointed as the special coordinator for Tibetan Issues in December 2021.
Zeya is the first Indian American to serve in the role. India is home to the world’s largest population of Tibetan exiles.
Meanwhile, in an apparent reference to US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti’s remarks on the situation in Manipur, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi has said that foreign diplomats would not usually comment on internal developments in India.
Bagchi said in response to queries at the regular media briefing on Thursday that government agencies are working towards peace in the border state. “I haven’t seen those comments by the US Ambassador, and if he has made them, we’ll see. I haven’t had a chance to see, maybe it just happened. I think, you know…we would also see peace there, and I think that our agencies and our security forces are working, and our local government are working on it. I’m not sure foreign diplomats would usually comment on internal developments in India, but I won’t like to make a comment without seeing exactly what is being said,” Bagchi said.
He was asked about Garcetti’s remarks concerning Manipur.
Garcetti on Thursday said that there has been “so much progress” in the Northeast region, and it’s not possible without peace. He further stated that the US is ready “to assist in any way” if asked in dealing with the situation in Manipur.
He also stated that violence in Manipur is an “Indian matter” and the US prays for peace in the region as it can bring more collaboration, more projects, and more investment if “peace is in place” in the region.
“I don’t think it’s about strategic concerns. I think it’s about human concerns. I think all of us, you don’t have to be Indian to care when children or individuals die in the sort of violence that we see. And we know that peace is the precedent for so many other good things,” Garcetti said in a press conference in Kolkata while responding to a question on Manipur.
“There’s been so much progress in the Northeast and in the East here. The country has done some remarkable things in recent years, and those can’t continue without peace. So we stand ready, willing, able to assist in any way of asked,” he said. (ANI)
