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Nearly two months after his visit to the region, United States Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage will travel to India and Pakistan later this month to review the steps taken by the two countries to ease their tensions since his last trip.
As part of his five-nation tour, Armitage will visit New Delhi on August 23 and Islamabad on August 24, 'where he will build upon his June visits to those cities and review the steps India and Pakistan have taken since that time to further de-escalate tensions', state department deputy spokesman Philip Reeker said on Monday.
He will also follow up on Secretary of State Colin Powell's visit to South Asia last month, discussing initiatives to expand US bilateral relations with both countries, Reeker said.
When told that Armitage 'is following his visit because may be Secretary Powell's visit was a failure at least in India', Reeker said: "No, not at all. It is very clear our engagement (is) with both countries, including India and Pakistan, and what we are trying to do here in terms of our bilateral relations with each country, but also in continuing to see that both sides live up to the commitments they have made."
Armitage will also be visiting Sri Lanka, China and Japan during the trip. Sri Lanka will be Armitage's first stop and he will visit Colombo on August 22. After visiting India and Pakistan, he will be in Beijing from August 25-27 and in Tokyo from August 27-28.
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