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Foreign secretary in Washington to carry forward 'strategic dialogue'

Foreign Secretary K Raghunathan had a day-long high-level discussions with senior US officials in Washington on Friday in pursuance of the ''strategic dialogue'' which began between the two countries last year, with a view to ''enhancing and deepening'' their bilateral relations.

According to official sources, these talks were a follow-up of the discussions initiated with India last year by US Under Secretary of State Thomas Pickering during his visit to New Delhi. He also exchanged views on regional security issues, including India-Pakistan relations.

Besides meeting Pickering, Raghunathan called on Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott, the number two man in the state department after Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, President Clinton's National Security Advisor Sandy Berger and Arms Control and Disarmament Agency director Johan Holum.

He also discussed the programme of Clinton's upcoming visit to India. The president was originally scheduled to visit New Delhi in March, but had to put it off due to the election that followed the collapse of the Gujral government.

Clinton is now expected to be in New Delhi in November. He will be the first US president to travel to India in two decades. Jimmy Carter, who visited India in 1978, was the last.

During his meeting with the US officials, Raghunathan, the first senior official to visit the US after the installation of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led ministry, is understood to have emphasised the element of continuity in New Delhi's policies, especially foreign policy which enjoys a bipartisan support.

While assuring that India would stick to its policy of normalising relations with its neighbours, he is understood to have drawn attention to India's security concerns, the most important of which is the recent test-firing of the medium-range Ghauri missile by Pakistan and the latter's support to terrorist groups in Kashmir.

The state department's annual report on terrorism, released in Washington on Thursday, had taken note of the ''credible reports'' suggesting official Pakistani support to militant groups active in Kashmir. Pakistan's role in Kashmir is a hurdle in normalising relations between the two countries, according to official sources.

Sources say Prime Minister A B Vajpayee is expected to meet his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharief soon. This will be their first meeting.

Meanwhile, Democratic Congressman Sherrod Brown had a wide-ranging discussion with US Ambassador to India Richard Celeste in Washington on Friday on the current state of India-US relations as well as preparations for the president's visit to New Delhi.

In a statement, he said the president's visit trip would further cement the country's increasing importance in American eyes and the world, and the ambassador was working overtime to make it a success.

Ambassador Celeste is on a three-week visit to the American capital for briefings and meeting with officials and organisations.

UNI

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