Thaindian News

Mumbai, July 17 (IANS) US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Mumbai Friday night to begin her five-day visit to India that will focus on starting phase III of the India-US strategic partnership and give a push to civil nuclear and defence ties between the two countries.
Her aircraft landed at 10.15 p.m., sources at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) confirmed.

Clinton has chosen Mumbai as the first leg of her India visit to stress the US’ solidarity with India’s cosmopolitan city that suffered the brunt of a savage terrorist attack, allegedly perpetrated by Pakistani nationals, over seven months ago. She will be staying at the iconic Taj Hotel and speak at a commemorative event in the memory of 26/11 victims Saturday morning.

She will interact with top Indian business magnates at a meet organised by industrialist Ratan Tata.

Invigorating people-to-people contacts is a major focus of Clinton’s visit.

She will interact with volunteers of the Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), an NGO, and a social event that will be attended by, among others, by film star Aamir Khan. She plans to visit St. Xavier’s College in Mumbai Saturday.

Clinton will fly to New Delhi Sunday afternoon. She will call on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and hold talks with her counterpart, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna in New Delhi Monday.

A slew of agreements, including pacts on an end-use monitoring agreement that will spur high-end arms sales between the two countries and another pact on space launches, are likely to be signed during her visit. India is also likely to announce two sites for US nuclear reactors during Clinton’s visit, official sources said.

The visit will focus on ushering in Phase III of the strategic partnership, which Clinton recently described as “3.0″ version, borrowing an analogy from IT software.

Ahead of her visit, Clinton struck an upbeat note on the trajectory of India-US partnership in days to come. In an interview to CNN-IBN, Clinton said: “I am really pleased that when I come to India, we are going to be announcing a very broad comprehensive agenda for dialogue that (External Affairs Minister (S.M.) Krishna and I would be leading.”

“We see India as an economic power, a strategic partner, a country that has unlimited potential,” she said.

“Clinton is genuinely excited about this trip and is really looking forward to spending a lot of time in India, three full days,” State Department Spokesman Ian Kelly said in Washington.

In New Delhi, she will attend a meet on climate change and interact with scientists researching at the Pusa Institute - two important areas of India-US cooperation.

She will also meet Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani.

Clinton had visited India earlier in 1999 and 2005. She flies to Thailand Tuesday to attend the meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers in Phuket.