Mathai meets Clinton; holds meetings in US

Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai on Wednesday met Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and held a series of meetings at the State Department and the White House on a range of bilateral, regional and global issues.

Washington: Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai
on Wednesday met Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and held a series
of meetings at the State Department and the White House on a
range of bilateral, regional and global issues.

On his first bilateral visit to the US as the Foreign
Secretary, Mathai is understood to have presented India`s
perspective on a wide range of regional and global issues
including Iran, the peace talks with Taliban and situation in
the region.

Secretary of State Clinton dropped by at a meeting
between Deputy Secretary of State William Burns and Mathai,
State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said.

Clinton`s meeting with Mathai, Nuland said, was to "make
clear that we support these consultations on the full range of
issues."

She is looking forward to the US-India Strategic Dialogue
later this year, Nuland said.

Later in the day, Under Secretary of State for Political
Affairs Windy Sherman hosted a meetings for Mathai, who met
other top officials from the State Department, including
Assistant Secretary of State for Political Military Affairs
Andrew Shapiro, Assistant Secretary of State for South and
Central Asia Robert Blake and Under Secretary of State for
Civilian Security Democracy and Human Rights Maria Otero.

Mathai also had meetings at the White House.

In the evening, Indian Ambassador to the US Nirupama Rao
hosted a dinner for the visiting Indian delegation which was
attended by officials from the State Department.

A day earlier, Mathai met the Ambassador at large and
Coordinator for Counter terrorism, Daniel Benjamin.

Mathai also met a group of Indian American community
leaders led by Dr Sambhu N Banik.

PTI

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