Pranab meets Clinton, American NSA Donilon

Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee met US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and National Security Adviser Tom Donilon to discuss bilateral and regional issues.

"The Secretary and the Minister talked about their mutual interest in strengthening and deepening economic and strategic cooperation as we prepare for the second US-India Strategic dialogue, which will take place in New Delhi in July," State Department spokesman Mike Hammer said.

The two leaders discussed a broad range of subjects, including key bilateral and regional issues, he said.

At the White House meeting, Donilon and Mukherjee reviewed the progress made by the two nations on the steps taken after the November visit of US President Barack Obama.

"The the two men discussed regional and global issues, economics and the progress being made on the initiatives launched during President Obama's 2010 visit to India," a US official said.

According to an Indian official, Mukherjee and the US leaders, among other things, also discussed the current situation in Afghanistan in the context of the drawdown of American troops beginning July and shared notes on their analysis of the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan.