NEW DELHI: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken may have set the tone for his Delhi visit by a breakfast meeting with a carefully curated set of civil society leaders on Wednesday followed by a meeting with National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.
“The US and India share a commitment to democratic values; this is part of the bedrock of our relationship and reflective of India’s pluralistic society and history of harmony. Civil society helps advance these values,” said a social media post by Blinken about the scheduled ‘Civil Society Roundtable’.
Among those present were lawyer Menaka Guruswamy, who has been critical of the Centre’s approach on Pegasus and human rights, Dr AK Merchant from the Bahai community which faces persecution in Pakistan and Geshe Dorji Damdul from the Dalai Lama’s office.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had earlier said, “As a long-standing pluralistic society, India is open to engaging those who now recognise the value of diversity.”
The US had tried to underplay the human rights aspect on the eve of Blinken’s departure for Delhi but, when faced with pointed questions at a media briefing, the State Department had to concede that the issue would come up during Blinken’s interactions that included a call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
The MEA had reacted to the brief mention of human rights by State Department official Dean Thompson. Sources here had said, “Issues such as human rights and democracy are universal and extend beyond a particular national or cultural perspective.”
“India is proud of its achievements in both domains and is always glad to share experiences,” they added.
But Quad engagement will be a key focus area of his talks and Blinken is likely to convey a message from US President Joe Biden to PM Modi about a first in-person summit of the Quad and a likely bilateral meeting at the White House.