US Treasury official concludes India visit with discussions on Ukraine

: A US treasury official has concluded his visit to India that included meetings among others with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, with discussions on issues like energy prices and Ukraine.

On August 26, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo met with government officials in New Delhi, including Sitharaman, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister PK Mishra, Ministry of Finance Secretary Ajay Seth, Ministry of External Affairs Secretary Vijay Kwatra, and Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas Secretary Pankaj Jain.

During the meeting, Adeyemo discussed ways that the United States and India could work together to address shared global challenges like food insecurity and high energy prices. He raised that ending Russia's invasion of Ukraine was critical to addressing these issues, the Treasury said in a readout of the meetings.

Adeyemo also shared with counterparts the United States' views on ways to put downward pressure on energy prices for consumers and businesses in India, the United States, and globally. He reiterated the importance of well supplied global energy markets, even as we work together with partners like India to expand access to sources of renewable energy that will reduce our dependence on fossil fuels over time, the readout said.

According to the Treasury, during the meetings in New Delhi the Deputy Secretary continued to underscore the importance of deepening the United States and India's already strong relationship, including through platforms like the Quad and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework.

He stressed that they can maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific that delivers greater prosperity for the citizens through those efforts, including through steps to bolster supply chain resiliency between trusted partners like the United States and India.