Vikram Misri to Visit Washington as India Deepens US Strategic Compact

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri will arrive in Washington on a three-day official visit. His meetings with top officials from the US administration are expected to further operationalize the outcomes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s high-profile February 2025 summit with President Donald Trump.

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The centerpiece of that bilateral exchange was the formal launch of India-US COMPACT — Catalysing Opportunities for Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce & Technology — a comprehensive framework that seeks to expand defense, digital innovation, and economic cooperation into the next decade.

Misri’s visit coincides with a parallel public diplomacy campaign being executed by India’s all-party parliamentary delegation led by Dr. Shashi Tharoor. Tharoor, a seasoned former UN diplomat, has drawn sharp parallels between India’s domestic terror tragedies and global threats, using symbolic venues like the 9/11 Memorial in New York to drive India’s message of zero tolerance for terrorism.

The Ministry of External Affairs confirmed that Misri will hold high-level talks on bilateral trade, regional security, and technological cooperation. The two nations are seeking to double their trade volume to $500 billion by 2030, and move forward on an elusive India–US free trade agreement. President Trump, who had previously imposed reciprocal tariffs, indicated during the February summit that a trade deal was “within reach.”

While Misri steers confidential diplomatic talks, the parallel engagement by India’s legislative delegation provides a dual-layered approach—government-to-government and public-facing diplomacy—solidifying India’s unified stance on key geopolitical challenges. 

“There is no daylight between India’s political parties on the issue of terrorism,” Tharoor said during a media interaction in New York, implicitly rebuffing previous US suggestions of bilateral mediation with Pakistan.

India’s assertiveness is unfolding against a tense backdrop: Tharoor has previously criticized foreign leaders, including Donald Trump, for overstepping diplomatic norms regarding India’s internal security matters. However, analysts believe Tharoor’s articulate positioning and diplomatic pedigree make him an ideal envoy to bridge political messaging with high-level diplomacy.

Misri is also expected to discuss Indo-Pacific coordination, cyber resilience, defense procurement pipelines, and green energy finance. His visit signals India’s growing diplomatic tempo, which also includes recent bilateral engagements in Maldives, Slovenia, Qatar, and Guyana.

The simultaneous presence of Vikram Misri in Washington and Shashi Tharoor on the public diplomacy circuit illustrates a multi-vector approach—combining hard negotiations with influential soft power outreach.