Barack Obama's visit to India: Af-Pak region to figure on top of agenda of US-India dialogue

NEW DELHI: The situation in Pakistan and specifically the Af-Pak region is expected to figure on top of the agenda of the US-India dialogue when US President Barack Obama visits India next month even as the Foreign Ministry has started the consultation process on the talking points for the meeting.

It wrote to over a dozen ministries, including Home, Defence, Finance, Urban Development, Railways and other economic ministries, asking for their views on what issues can be discussed when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Obama meet next month in Delhi. The ministries were asked to indicate what agreements could be finalised or signed during the US President’s visit by the end of the year. Obama is scheduled to be in New Delhi on January 25 and 26.

India could flag off developments in the Af-Pak region and the situation in Pakistan, given the recent terror attack in Peshawar and repeated ceasefire violations by Pakistan on the international border during the talks.

India is also expected to ask the US to exert pressure on Pakistan to book terror organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba’s chief, Hafiz Saeed, and also for more cooperation to check misuse of social media by terrorist organisations like the Islamic State, Al-Qaeda and LeT for radicalisation, since servers of Twitter and Google are located in the US.

Among other items that would figure prominently in Obama-Modi talks would be defence, energy particularly clean energy, nuclear energy, Intellectual Property Rights, infrastructure, smart cities, non-proliferation & Nuclear Suppliers Group, railways sectors, according to a government source. Three smart cities that US decided to set up are in Ajmer, Vishakhapatnam and Allahabad. India and the USA could also show interest in the infrastructure sector. Joint production and co-development in the defence sector would be given priority, the source indicated.