New Delhi, July 19: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton landed in India on Monday night for the second Indo-US strategic dialogue, that was originally slated to be held in April. Counter terror co-operation, nuclear co-operation, Afghanistan, Pakistan and East Asia will be the top priorities during her visit.
Even though, Hillary Clinton has come to India just days after the Mumbai serial bombings, India is not expected to formally seek US help for the probe. However, discussions on improving Indian counter terror capabilities will be high on the agenda.
An MoU on cyber terrorism will be inked as well.
Other less headline grabbing deliverables will be in the areas of energy and education, trade and investment and e-governance
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said, “Counter terrorism dialogue with the US very crucial. Both countries have suffered great losses and realise the need of counter terrorism.”
India will also raise irritants in the bilateral relationship including the setback to NSG transfers of enrichment and reprocessing technologies, US visa curbs for skilled Indian IT workers and the treatment of Indian students and diplomats in America.
Beyond the bilateral relationship, the focus will be on security and stability in Asia and notes will be exchanged on Pakistan, Afghanistan and China .
Despite the recent irritants, both sides are at pains to stress that the fizz in the relationship is intact. They say Clinton’s 25 member delegation with some members of ministerial rank is a pointer to the depth and scope of this emerging partnership.
–Agencies