http://edition.cnn.com/2017/10/24/asia/tillerson-india-trip/index.html
Tillerson in India: China, Afghanistan and Pakistan to dominate agenda
Updated 0138 GMT (0938 HKT) October 25, 2017
New Delhi (CNN) — The Trump administration's South Asia strategy is in the spotlight this week, as US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrives in New Delhi after stops in Kabul and Islamabad.
Tillerson landed at Indira Gandhi International Airport late Tuesday night local time, and Wednesday will hold meetings with Indian officials, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A rising and increasingly assertive China, as well as America's future plans for war-torn Afghanistan, are among the issues that are likely to top the agenda, say analysts.
Here are the key issues to watch out for.
China
Although he isn't visiting Beijing on this trip, China is set to be a key talking point during the secretary of state's visit to India. Tillerson indicated as much last week, when he contrasted India with China in a speech in Washington.
"The driving force of our close relationship rests in the ties between our peoples -- our citizens, business leaders, and our scientists. ... We'll never have the same relationship with China, a nondemocratic society, that we can have with a major democracy," he said on October 18.
The warm words for New Delhi come as China carves out its One Belt, One Road project, economic and infrastructure projects that span more than 68 countries across Europe, Asia and Africa.
"The rise of a more capable and assertive China remains the single most important driver of the growing partnership between Washington and Delhi," Constantino Xavier, a fellow at Carnegie India, a think tank, said in an email.
The friendly tone toward New Delhi also predates the Trump administration, as the US sought to cultivate India as a bulwark against China.
"There's a huge element of continuity in all of this. All presidents from Bill Clinton onwards, all of them have strongly supported an India-US relationship," said Ajai Shukla, a defense analyst and former Indian military officer based in New Delhi. "This is equally true of Indian prime ministers, irrespective of ideology and irrespective of strategic orientation."