US official Rena Bitter to visit India, engage with missions in three cities

She will be travelling to India and Qatar during her visit from February 19-27. In Doha, she will observe the work of US consular teams.

India is home to the second-largest US consular operation in the world. Here, Bitter will visit facilities in Chennai and Mumbai and lead a US delegation in a bilateral consular dialogue with counterparts in New Delhi.

Notably, the US official's visit follows a year of record-breaking visa issuances in India, the statement added.

"Our consular operations in India and Qatar bolster the critical people-to-people and economic ties the United States shares with these vital partners. The Assistant Secretary's trip highlights our sustained commitment to the protection of US citizens overseas and the facilitation of legitimate travel and immigration to the United States," the US State Department statement read.

Meanwhile, US Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources, Richard Verma is currently on a visit to India. He is also scheduled to visit Maldives and Sri Lanka.

On Monday, he met Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, during which the two leaders held discussions on the trade ties shared by the two nations.

Wladyslaw T Bartoszewski, the Secretary of State at the Poland Foreign Affairs Ministry is also on an official visit to India.

He highlighted India's remarkable economic growth under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership and credited him for the nation's achievements.

"I can see how much progress India has made under Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the last two terms...We want to have closer cooperation with India because we want India to play a role in world affairs," he told ANI.

Gerard Larcher, Chairman of the French Senate, is on an official visit to India on February 19-20 along with a delegation of five senators. The visit aims to strengthen bilateral ties and parliamentary cooperation between France and India. (ANI)