Thaindian News

New Delhi, July 20 (IANS) US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton began talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday afternoon, with the Mumbai attacks and their aftermath, the situation in the Afghanistan-Pakistan (’AfPak’) region and India’s role in it on the agenda.
Manmohan Singh is expected to tell Clinton about his talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani at Sharm-el-Sheikh in Egypt and New Delhi’s position on dialogue with Islamabad, official sources said.

Manmohan Singh will host lunch for Clinton, the highest ranking US official to visit India during the Barack Obama presidency.

Clinton is expected to unveil her vision of the ‘3.0′ phase of the India-US relationship that will include “a comprehensive six-pillared strategic dialogue” on issues ranging from defence and energy to education and development.

Clinton will hold delegation-level talks with External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna later in the day.

A slew of accords, including an end-use monitoring agreement that will spur high-end arms sales between them and another one on civilian space launches, is expected to be signed Monday after talks. Pacts in areas of agriculture and education are also likely to be inked.

Besides civil nuclear cooperation, the two sides will discuss economic and defence ties and enhanced cooperation in the fields of clean energy, agriculture, science and education.

India is also likely to announce two sites for US nuclear reactors in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, the first concrete step to implement the civilian nuclear deal between the two countries.