US State Secy Pompeo to visit India on June 26

US Secretary of State Michael R Pompeo is expected to pay a delegation-level visit to New Delhi, likely on June 26, before heading to attend the G-20 summit in Osaka on June 28-29, United States ambassador to India, Kenneth Juster, said on Thursday.

During the one-day visit, Pompeo will call Prime Minister Narendra Modi and meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

Commemorating the US D-Day at the American Embassy here, Juster said, "Americans were honoured to stand with Indians 75 years ago to uphold freedom. The United States is honoured to stand with India today in reaffirming our commitment to free and democratic societies."

"The US-India partnership is durable and effective because it is based on a foundation of common values. These ideals have led millions of Indians to make their voices heard recently in the largest democratic exercise in world history.

"We congratulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his new Cabinet of Ministers, and all of the newly elected parliamentarians, and wish them the very best as they take up their positions," the ambassador added.

D-Day is observed in the US in memory of the Normandy landings in France on June 6, 1944, in which American soldiers and other Allied forces fought to end World War II in Europe.Juster further stated that the US is looking forward to continuing "our close collaboration with the Government of India and support our values and our ideals and to strengthen our partnership."

"We, at the US Embassy, also look forward to working with our non-governmental partners, compes, NGO, think tanks, educational and cultural institutions to continue our strategic partnership," he added.

Meanwhile, Loss Carlson, the deputy chief of US Mission, said that Pompeo's visit to India reflects Washington's commitment t India, especially during the tenure of the new government headed by Prime Minister Modi.

"We really look forward to continuing our close collaboration on the multilateral forum as well as the bilateral relationship between the two countries," Carlson added.

Speaking on the D-Day commemorations, Carlson said, "Independence Day for any country is really important. But this year, it was really mengful to celebrate the Independence Day in India especially after witnessing the largest democratic exercise in history."

"India shares similar democratic ideals with the United States. In the US, we marked it as the Independence Day, while in India, you celebrate this occasion with your newly formed government after the general elections," she added.

( With inputs from ANI )