U.S. defence secretary visits India on mission to draw militaries closer

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter gestures at a news conference at the Pentagon in Washington February 29, 2016. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

GOA, India (Reuters) - U.S. Defence Secretary Ash Carter began a three-day visit to India on Sunday, seeking to advance a relatively new defence relationship with a country Washington sees as a counterweight to the growing power of China.

In a sign of the importance Carter places on improving defence ties with India, the visit is his second in less than a year, and it kicks off in Goa, the west coast home state of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.