US-India inaugural strategic dialogue from June 1-4

WASHINGTON: In a first, the US and India will hold a four-day strategic dialogue here from June one, which would include an in-depth discussion between leaders of the two countries on critical global and regional issues like energy and terrorism.

"The Secretary (of State Hillary Clinton) looks forward to hosting Minister of External Affairs (S M) Krishna," State Department spokesman P J Crowley told reporters at his daily news conference here last evening.

Leading the delegations of their respective countries, Clinton and Krishna would co-chair the high-level inter-agency discussions on a range of critical issues, including agriculture, education, energy, trade and counter-terrorism, Crowley said.

"There will be in-depth discussions on global and regional issues. In addition, there'll be separate bilateral meetings, including between Cabinet members and Indian ministers on the margins of the dialogue," Crowley said.

The State Department spokesman also announced that Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Bill Burns will be travelling to Afghanistan and India next week.

"In Afghanistan, he will build on the progress achieved through the successful visit of (the Afghan) President (Hamid) Karzai and his Cabinet to Washington. In India he'll meet with a range of senior Indian officials and make preparations for the upcoming strategic dialogue," he said.

Also in India, from May 23 until June 4, Ambassador Philip Revere, the US coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy, will lead an inter-agency delegation from Department of State, Federal Communications Commission, Department of Homeland Security and National Telecommunications Information Administration to the fifth World Telecommunication Development Conference in Hyderabad, he announced.

The conference is being held under the auspices of the International Telecommunications Union.