S M Krishna, Hillary Clinton discuss bilateral ties, Tri-Valley, Egypt

NEW YORK: External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today discussed bilateral ties and her upcoming visit to India for the next round of Indo-US strategic dialogue.

In a 15-minute telephonic conversation, they also talked about the Tri-Valley university Indian student issue and the recent events in Egypt, sources told PTI.

Krishna welcomed Clinton in advance and said he looked forward to her visit to India. Clinton will come to India in April for the second round of the India-US strategic dialogue.

Krishna has been in New York since Thursday to push India's agenda for UN Security Council reforms and also to further to look into the situation of more than 1,000 Indian students from TVU who have lost their visa status.

According to a federal complaint filed in a California court in January, the University helped foreign nationals illegally acquire immigration status. The university is said to have 1,555 students. As many as 95 per cent of these students are Indian nationals, the complaint said.

Investigations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have found that while students were admitted to various residential and on-line courses of the university and on paper lived in California, but in reality they "illegally" worked in various parts of the country as far as Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Texas.

On the TVU students, Krishna told Clinton that while the US investigates the university, these students must be given humanitarian considerations so that their cases are resolved quickly and they can join other institutions.

Krishna met with around 30 of these students on Saturday.

Both leaders also discussed the political developments in Egypt. Following several days of protests President Hosni Mubarak was forced to step down, ending his 30-year reign.

Both India and US welcomed the resignation of Mubarak.