On Wednesday, July 19, the United States hosted the Government of India at the U.S. Department of State for the fourth annual U.S.-India Counternarcotics Working Group (CNWG) meeting. The U.S. and Indian delegations addressed drug regulatory issues, law enforcement cooperation and collaboration, coordination in multilateral fora, and drug demand reduction efforts. This year’s CNWG builds on India’s participation in Secretary Blinken’s virtual ministerial launching of the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats earlier this month. The two delegations also discussed recommended actions on advancing the U.S.-India drug policy relationship for the coming year.
The meeting included representatives from the Government of India including Narcotics Control Bureau Director General S.N. Pradhan and Ambassador of India to the United States Taranjit Singh Sandhu, and featured participation from Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights Uzra Zeya, Ambassador to the Republic of India Eric Garcetti, the White House’s Director of National Drug Control Policy Dr. Rahul Gupta, and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Lisa Johnson.
The delegations look forward to continuing to collaborate on the wide range of counternarcotics efforts and to holding the next CNWG in India in 2024.