Nirupama Rao meets top US officials, briefs them on Indo-Pak talks

WASHINGTON: Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao reviewed the progress of India-US strategic dialogue with top Obama Administration officials, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and briefed them on the recent Indo-Pak talks as well as New Delhi's view point on Afghanistan.

Rao, who is on a six-day visit here, met Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Bill Burns at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department, where Clinton dropped in and joined the discussion.

The Foreign Secretary also met National Security Adviser Gen James Jones at the White House.

"Foreign Secretary briefed the US side about her talks with the Foreign Secretary of Pakistan (Salman Bashir) last month," Indian Embassy said in a statement.

India and Pakistan resumed dialogue last month after a 14-month gap. Rao and Bashir met in New Delhi on February 25.

"She exchanged views on recent developments related to Afghanistan and stressed that Afghanistan presented the foremost security related challenge in the region," it said.

Rao also reiterated India's long held position that it was important for the international community to stay the present course in Afghanistan for as long as it is necessary.

"The US interlocutors conveyed their appreciation of the important developmental work being done by India in Afghanistan," the statement said.

The bilateral meetings, the statement said, provided Rao an opportunity to review the progress on various pillars of India-US Strategic Dialogue agenda including cooperation in defence, nuclear energy, counter-terrorism, agriculture, education, energy, space and cyber-security.