After Holbrooke, Hillary plans to visit South Asia

After the announcement of the South Asia visit of the United Staes special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, the US state department on Friday announced that the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would also visit South Asia.

For now, Clinton's itinerary includes Japan, Korea and China. Her tour begins on February 15. Dates have not been fixed for her South Asia tour, though.

Holbrooke, on his part, has already started his tour. After attending the 45th Munich Security Conference, which begins on Saturday, he'll visit Pakistan, Afghanistan and India. The state department said "Holbrooke's tour would be an orientation trip and he would not deliver any messages or lectures."

"In New Delhi, Holbrooke would consult the Indian government about ways to contribute to peace and stability in Afghanistan, considering India's interests in Afghanistan," said a state department spokesperson.

To a question on Holbrooke raising the Kashmir issue, the spokesperson said, "Kashmir was never a part of his portfolio."

Meanwhile, former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf on Saturday told Pakistan's Dawn newspaper that he would visit India next month on a lecture tour.