New Delhi: US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin will pay a two-day visit to India beginning Sunday to discuss ways to further expand the bilateral strategic engagement ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s trip to Washington.

People familiar with Austin’s visit said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and the US defence secretary are set to discuss a number of new defence cooperation projects that are set to be unveiled after Modi’s talks with US President Joe Biden in Washington more than two weeks later.

China’s aggressive behaviour in the Indo-Pacific region as well as along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and ways to combat the threat of terrorism are likely to figure in the talks between Singh and Austin on Monday, they said.

Press Trust of India