US-India strategic dialogue next week

United States and India will hold their four-day inaugural strategic dialogue beginning June one which would include an in-depth discussion between the leaders of the two countries on global and regional issues.

The State Department spokesman also announced that the Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Bill Burns will travel to Afghanistan and India.

"The Secretary (of State) looks forward to hosting Minister of External Affairs (S M) Krishna," state department spokesman P J Crowley told reporters at his daily news conference.

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.

"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 the Departments of State, the 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 held under the auspices of the International Telecommunications Union.