Chokila Iyer in U.S.

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, MAY 17. Foreign Office consultations between India and the United States got under way at the State Department this morning with the Foreign Secretary, Ms. Chokila Iyer, meeting the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Mr. Marc Grossman. The Indian delegation includes Mr. Jayant Prasad, Joint Secretary for the Americas and Mr. Vivek Katju, who overseas Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Officials are expected to go through the entire gamut of bilateral relations with the discussions a part of the overall dialogue architecture. The Bush administration has made it known that it is for furthering what has been established with India during the Clinton administration; and Washington has been pursuing the Indian aspect of its foreign policy quite seriously.

The U.S. President, Mr. George W Bush, met the Indian External Affairs Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh, recently with the discussions going beyond introductory remarks and exchange of pleasantries. Last week, the Bush administration sent a special envoy, Mr. Richard Armitage, the Deputy Secretary of State to New Delhi to explain and consult with Indian officials and leaders the President's National Missile Defence System (NMD) and related issues. And New Delhi's welcoming the NMD and reductions in nuclear arsenals has gone over well in official circles here.

Ms. Iyer's programme in Washington has also the Capitol Hill component. Today and tomorrow she is scheduled to meet a few Republican and Democratic law makers. They include Mr. Benjamin Gilman, Republican Congressman in the House International Relations Committee, who is the Chairman of the Sub Committee on the Asia Pacific; Mr. Gary Ackerman, also a member of the House International Relations Committee; Congressman Mr. Ed Royce of California and Mr. Jim McDermott.

Ms. Iyer is having talks at the State Department on the day the nominee for the next Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, Ms. Christina Rocca, appears before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. A former legislative aide and foreign affairs advisor to Senator Sam Brownback, Ms. Rocca is expected to be confirmed very shortly.

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