Mattis' India visit aimed at taking Indo-US defence ties to

US Defence Secretary James Mattis will seek to take the India-US defence ties to the next level during his visit to India this week, with discussion on F-16s and the security situation in the region likely to dominate the agenda.

Firmly of the view that a stronger India both in terms of military and economy is in America's national interest, Mattis would meet his Indian counterpart Nirmala Sitharaman, National Security Advisor Ajit K Doval and also call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

This is the first Cabinet-level visit to India under the Trump administration.

Informed sources familiar with the preparations of the visit told

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