Indian Air Chief Visits United States

Indian Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha left New Delhi on Monday for a four-day visit to the United States, at the invitation of Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh, reported India’s New Delhi Television. Raha is scheduled to hold talks with senior US military officials and discuss broadening bilateral defense cooperation. Raha is on tap to visit Nellis AFB, Nev., where he will discuss future participation in Air Force-hosted multilateral exercises like Red Flag. (The Indian Air Force first participated in Red Flag in 2008.) Raha’s visit is meant to boost relations between the IAF and Air Force and will foster “greater convergence at the operational level,” states the report. It comes as Defense Secretary Ash Carter is set to return to Asia early next month, where he will visit New Delhi for the first time in his current job position, following his participation at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.