Afghan issue, N cooperation on foreign secy's agenda

Situation in Afghanistan amidst NATO combat troops withdrawal and civil nuclear cooperation would be among the priority issues when the Foreign Secretary travels to the US from December 8 for consultations with top American administration officials.
Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh's four-day visit comes in the backdrop of India raising with the US the issue of American intelligence snooping over it. New Delhi is understood to be "unsatisfied" with the response of the US Administration so far.
Apart from co-chairing the Foreign Office Consultations with her counterpart Wendy Sherman, an important part of the Indo-US dialogue structure, Singh will hold talks with US Acting Undersecretary of State for arms control and international security Rose Gottemoeller, Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs said here today.

He said Singh will also hold talks with senior US officials from Energy, Defence and Commerce departments.
On whether the snooping by the US intelligence will figure in the talks, a top government source said there was an ongoing discussion between India and the US on various issues and all matters which were "current, relevant and that are to be followed from the Summit-level meetings" will be discussed during the meeting.
This will be Singh's first "full-fledged introductory visit" to the US which will familiarise her with the US' viewpoint on key and strategic issues and also help American interlocutors in understanding her perspective, sources said.

Apart from taking stock of status of bilateral ties, the two sides will discuss key regional and international issues including security situation in war-torn Afghanistan.

The visit will also help India to raise issues relevant to it including cooperation in energy sector, the sources said.
Indo-US energy cooperation encompasses both nuclear and conventional means. While work is progressing on the Early Works Agreement between Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd and US' Westing House, there is already a proposal for supply of shale gas to India from a US company from 2017.
Other strategic areas of cooperation include security, defence and counter-terrorism.

There is also a standing demand from India for further access to Pakistani-American terrorist David Headley, who conspired with the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Pakistani intelligence officers in plotting the 2008 Mumbai attack.