New Delhi, May 10: US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage had a 40-minute meeting today with Congress President Sonia Gandhi and discussed wide-ranging regional, bilateral and international issues including the Indo-Pakistan ties and the situation in Afghanistan. Congress spokesman S Jaipal Reddy described their meeting as "useful, informative and pleasant."
Gandhi told Armitage that there was a broad consensus among various political parties on India`s foreign policy and the Indo-Pakistan ties, Reddy said.
Armitage was accompanied by Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca and the US ambassador in India Robert Blackwill.
Gandhi was assisted by the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Department of AICC K Natwar Singh.
Soon after, he left for South Block where he held talks with External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha. After which, Armitage, had intensive consultations with Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal, who later hosted a lunch for him. Ahead of his talks, President George W Bush during a meeting with National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra at the Oval Office in White House appreciated the initiative taken by Vajpayee to break the deadlock with Pakistan.
The meeting with Bush took place when Mishra went to the White House for a scheduled meeting with the US President`s National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice.
Armitage will have meetings with Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh and call on Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee before leaving this evening.
Bureau Report