Guwahati: The United States Defence Secretary Llyod J Austin III will travel to four countries starting next week including India, an official statement released by the US Department of Defence said.
The US Defence Secretary will first go to Tokyo, Japan, where he will meet with Yasukasu Hamada, the Japanese Defence Minister, and other top officials. He will also pay a visit to US troops stationed in Japan.
After the historic US-Japan “2+2” Ministerial Summit earlier this year, the US and Japan are now moving forward to modernise Alliance capabilities, optimise US military posture, and develop relationships with like-minded allies, according to the official statement.
From there, Secretary Austin will fly to Singapore, where he will speak at the 20th Shangri-La Dialogue of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
The Secretary will be holding meetings with important leaders on the fringes of the dialogue in order to advance US defence ties across the region and support the shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific, grounded in ASEAN centrality.
Secretary Austin will go to India from Singapore. As the US and India continue their efforts to modernise the US-India Major Defence Partnership, he will meet with Rajnath Singh, the Indian Defence Minister, as well as other leaders in New Delhi.
Furthermore, the visit will be a chance to advance ongoing initiatives to increase operational cooperation between the Indian and American military as well as new defence innovation and industrial partnership initiatives.
Austin’s four-nation trip will come to a conclusion with a stop in France, where he will attend festivities honouring the 79th anniversary of D-Day and meet with the heads of defence of France and the United Kingdom.