An auto-rickshaw ride and masala chai: How Antony Blinken spent his day before leaving after G20 India visit

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in India for the G20 Foreign Ministers meeting. Before leaving, he met the staff of US embassies and their family members residing in different cities of the country, on Friday.

The staff of American embassies in Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Chennai, and their family members met Blinken in New Delhi.

He took to Twitter to express his gratitude to the staff heaping praises on them for their hard work and commitment to strengthening India-US ties.

In one of the pictures shared by Blinken, he can be seen getting off an auto-rickshaw which was followed by a few more with embassy staff members onboard.

The US Embassy in Delhi also posted a video of Blinken's auto-rickshaw ride.

He also met women civil society leaders in the capital "over cups of masala chai" discussing their important work on women empowerment and saying that it enriches and strengthens both India and the US.

The Democratic Party leader left for his country earlier today after having successful rounds of bilateral meetings.

"The #USIndia partnership is consequential. My visit reflects the power of our partnership and the strong commitment we share to safeguarding the Indo-Pacific. Thankful for India’s hospitality and leadership, and ready to partner on the ambitious agenda for their G20 Presidency," he tweeted.

Blinken met his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar on Thursday, focusing on bilateral ties and discussing global issues including the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The US Secretary of State also met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in a first face-to-face encounter since the start of the war in Ukraine in February last year.

With inputs from agencies