John Kerry leaves for India

US Secretary of State John Kerry, heading a high-powered delegation, today left for India to co-chair the fifth annual India-US Strategic Dialogue with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in New Delhi during his three-day official visit.

State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki, who is accompanying Kerry on his trip, said the top US diplomat would also meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

It is the first cabinet-level interaction between the Obama administration and the new Indian government led by Modi.

Kerry leads a high-powered US delegation including Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker to co-chair the India-US Strategic Dialogue with Swaraj in New Delhi on July 31.

"There is incredible potential for the US–India relationship and the Strategic Dialogue is a great opportunity to explore ways to move forward," Congressman Joe Crowley said.

"We already have very strong people-to-people relations, and our two countries should be doing everything we can to work together more and more," the top Democratic lawmaker, who also co-chairs the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, said.

While Kerry's meeting would set the tone of the India-US relationship, officials said the trip would lay the ground work for Modi's September visit to Washington to meet US President Barack Obama.

"Kerry's visit underscores the importance of the US-India partnership, and will lay the groundwork for Prime Minister Modi's September visit to the United States," Psaki said.

Psaki told reporters that the strategic dialogue is an opportunity to reinvigorate the already strong relations with India and to begin working with the new government to advance shared bilateral and regional interests.

"Discussions will focus on expanding trade and investment to achieve greater shared prosperity; ensuring India's energy security through cooperation and clean energy; ensuring the safety of both our nations through expanded counterterrorism and homeland security cooperation; and tackling global issues such as the looming threat of climate change," she said.

Congressman Crowley hoped that in future dialogues, the conversation can expand beyond the foreign ministry to include elected officials from both nations in order to strengthen and deepen the bilateral ties.

"At a time when there are a number of foreign policy crises and issues demanding US attention, this visit and the next few – including that of (Defence Secretary) Chuck Hagel -- signals that the Obama administration sees the relationship as a priority and wants to take advantage of the opportunity a new government in Delhi offers to move it forward," Tanvi Madan, fellow in the Foreign Policy programme at the Brookings Institution, and director of the new India Project, told PTI.

"It is the first principals' visit from the US (both Kerry and Pritzker) and gives the two political leaderships a chance to establish direct face-to-face contact and a working relationship. It gives both sides a chance to move the ball forward on a number of fronts – including commerce, homeland security, energy, climate change – in the lead up to the Prime Minister's meeting with Obama in the fall," Madan said.

"In terms of expectations, I am not necessarily expecting major announcements – major outcomes and deliverables will most likely be announced during the Modi visit to the US. I expect the trips in the lead up to that visit will prepare the ground for those announcements," Madan said.

"With a head-of-state meeting just two months away, the visit to New Delhi by Secretary Kerry and Secretary Pritzker should focus on setting up their respective leaders meeting.  The same can be said for Secretary Hagel's visit to New Delhi in early August," Rick Rossow, Wadhwani Chair in US India Policy Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies said.

"The Modi government will have its budget session of Parliament done in a couple of weeks, allowing greater time to focus on external priorities ahead of the Washington summit. So my expectations are modest in terms of specific deliverables for these next visits," Rossow said. 

Madan said the focus over the next couple of months will be how to move from opportunity to outcome, from potential to progress and performance in the relationship.