Foreign Minister of a country, Anthony Blinken had visited two days to India for strengthening co-operation on July 27 and 28 in 2021. He belongs to which of the following countries ?

Question

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Correct — B, United States of America. Antony J. Blinken is the US Secretary of State — the chief diplomat who heads the State Department and functions as the American equivalent of a 'Foreign Minister.' He visited New Delhi on 27–28 July 2021 to strengthen the India–US partnership, meeting External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Blinken is a national of and represents the United States, so option (b) is correct.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) Wrong — Blinken is the US Secretary of State, not a British minister. The UK's Foreign Secretary at that time was Dominic Raab, not Blinken.  (c) Wrong — Blinken represents the United States. France's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs in 2021 was Jean-Yves Le Drian.  (d) Wrong — Blinken is American. Australia's Foreign Minister in 2021 was Marise Payne.

Concept: Antony Blinken became the 71st US Secretary of State on 26 January 2021 under President Joe Biden. In the US system there is no post titled 'Foreign Minister'; the Secretary of State heads the Department of State and is the country's top diplomat, so the term 'Foreign Minister of a country' in the question maps to this office. His late-July 2021 India visit focused on the Indo-Pacific and the Quad, COVID-19 cooperation, Afghanistan and regional security.

State PCS 2021 Q36 — Current Affairs PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2021 Q36 — Current Affairs PYQ with Answer