A delegation led by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrives in New Delhi on Monday, July 18 evening for Round 2 of the US-India Strategic Dialog. Her delegation includes the Director of National Intelligence James Clapper; Assistant to President on Science and Technology John Holdren; Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel Poneman; Deputy Secretary, Department of Homeland Security, Jane Lute; as well as a number of other senior officials from various Departments of the US Administration. (American secretaries are generally presidential appointees)
She meets with India’s National Security Advisor and has delegation-level talks with the External Affairs Minister.
The Indian delegation will be led by External Affairs Minister Dr. S.M. Krishna and will include Deputy-Chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia; Sam Pitroda, Advisor to Prime Minister; Foreign Secretary(and Ambassador-Designate) Nirupama Rao; Foreign Secretary Designate Ranjan Mathai; Other India Civil Service officers in the meetings will be the Commerce Secretary; the Secretary, Department of Science and Technology; the Home Secretary; the Secretary, Education; the Secretary, Environment and Forests; the Director of the Intelligence Bureau.She will also have meetings with the Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, call on Chairperson UPA Sonia Gandhi; call on Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The delegations will hold a joint press conference. Secretary Clinton will visit Chennai on July 20, where she will visit a plant run by the Ford Motor Company. She will then leave for Djakarta, Indonesia for a regional summit.
What this means:
Clinton has visited India several times, starting during her tenure as First Lady.
The strategic dialog between the countries is now maturing and being pursued on many economic, security and cultural fronts. This is good news for alignment between the world’s two largest democracies. The fact that is she is stopping in Chennai will highlight south India and the city that is home to much of India automotive and electronics manufacturing.
