India and the US are set to discuss a range of key issues like Pakistan and Afghanistan at their third Strategic Dialogue described by New Delhi as a reflection of the vastness of the bilateral relationship.
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna is here for the crucial dialogue with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this evening, which will cover themes like defence, homeland security, counter-terrorism and intelligence; economic, energy, climate; S&T, innovation and health; higher education and empowerment; and regional strategies and linkages.
Ahead of the Strategic Dialogue, the two sides initiated a number of sub-dialogues, including the Global Issues Forum, Homeland Security Consultations, Strategic Intelligence Dialogue, the Counter-terrorism Joint Working Group, Cyber Consultations, Information and Communications Technology Working Group, the Women's Empowerment Dialogue, Dialogue on Health Cooperation and other events.
The Strategic Dialogue is a reflection of the vastness of the India-US relationship and the breadth of engagement between the two countries, External Ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said.
"The issues on the table are pretty clear... it covers a whole host of things apart from discussing strategic and regional issues, we would also have issues related to human resources development, we have issues related to women empowerment and a whole set of issues, homeland security."
Krishna is accompanied by a number of his top ministerial colleagues including Minister for Science and Technology Vilasrao Deshmukh, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Prime Minister's Public Information Infrastructure and Innovation Advisor Sam Pitroda.
