Washington (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit India and Kuwait next week to meet on China, coronavirus and Afghanistan, the State Department said Friday.
The trip is vulnerable before the U.S. military withdrawal is complete, as the Biden administration seeks to strengthen U.S. leadership by vaccination of COVID-19 worldwide, blunting China’s growing claims. Move to evacuate people from Afghanistan.
The State Department said Blinken would meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Wednesday and travel to Kuwait City the next day.
India is an important part of the United States’ efforts to counter China’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific and other regions. State Department spokesman Ned Price said on the agenda in Delhi: “COVID-19 response efforts, Indo-Pacific involvement, sharing of regional security interests, sharing of democratic values, dealing with the climate crisis. “Is included.
Kuwait, along with Qatar, is one of the hottest countries to host the thousands of Afghans who worked in the United States, and moved to the United States by the end of August before the U.S. military completely withdrew from Afghanistan. I want to
The Byden administration wants to evacuate approximately 4,000 Afghan people who have served as interpreters and other supporters for Afghan U.S. forces and their families to third-country U.S. military bases during visa processing. ..
It is on top of about 2,500 Afghans who have already completed security inspections and will be held at Fort Lee Army Base in Virginia from next week until the final visa approval.