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

The US State Department announced on Thursday that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and India from February 28 to March 3, as well as attend the G20 Foreign Ministers meeting in New Delhi on March 1.

During his visit to India, Blinken will meet with officials from the Union government and civil society to reaffirm the two countries’ strong partnership. On December 1, India assumed the G20 presidency.

“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.”

Blinken will visit Kazakhstan’s Astana on February 28 to meet with senior Kazakh officials in order to strengthen bilateral cooperation between the US and Kazakhstan. He will also attend a C5+1 Ministerial with representatives from each of Central Asia’s five states.

According to the US State Department, the C5+1 Ministerial will focus on strengthening economic, energy and environmental, and security cooperation among the US, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

“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.”

Blinken will meet with senior government officials from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan on the sidelines of the C5+1 ministerial to discuss opportunities for bilateral cooperation. Following his visit to Uzbekistan, Antony Blinken will travel to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, to meet with Uzbek officials in order to advance bilateral and regional relations between the two countries.

Blinken will travel to India on March 1 after visiting Uzbekistan.