US NSA McMaster to Discuss Defence Ties in Visit to India

McMaster will meet PM Modi, Sushma Swaraj as well as the foreign secretary S Jaishankar

Lt. Gen. HR McMaster, the US National Security Advisor (Photo: AP)

On his maiden visit to India this weekend, US National security adviser HR McMaster, will discuss the stabilisation of the Afghani state, in the wake of the newly expanding Taliban and the increasing influence of ISIS.

According to a report by Hindustan Times, McMaster is due to meet the PM Modi, Foreign Minster Sushma Swaraj as well as foreign secretary S Jaishankar in addition to his counterpart Ajit Doval.

According to sources, McMaster will be visiting India to renew Indo-US defence ties, in addition to inviting Narendra Modi to the US later this year

The bilateral defence technology and trade initiative (DTTI) established by the UPA government and the Obama administration is yet to take off.

Under the program, projects such as the Javelin shoulder-fired missile, C-130 J roll-on roll-off, small UAV pathfinder and even a working group on hot engine technology are still in nascent stages of development.

A Senior official in the Trump Administraition said:

NSA McMaster, who was the key figure behind the US strike in Syria, will be in the region to assess the American role in Afghanistan and whether more troops are required in the near future.

Also Read: Trump Appoints ‘Authority Questioning’ General HR McMaster as NSA

Both the US and India are part of a larger stabilisation effort, helping in infrastructure development in the Ashraf Ghani-led government.

The US has 9,000 troops in the region, and is increasingly concerned over their safety, with the growing influence of the Taliban, whom the US feels is supplied with fresh weaapons, by a developing Russia-China-Pakistan-Iran axis.

US President Donald Trump named Lt. Gen. HR McMaster as his new National Security Adviser, succeeding Michael Flynn, who resigned amid the furore around his his pre-inauguration contacts with Russian ambassador.