Visit of Foreign Secretary to Washington, DC on December 21-22, 2005

New Delhi
December 19, 2005

Foreign Secretary will be visiting Washington on 21-22 December, 2005 for bilateral consultations with his US counterpart Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, R. Nicholas Burns.

2. During his visit, Foreign Secretary is expected to review with Under Secretary Burns progress on the implementation of agreements and understandings contained in the July 18, 2005 Joint Statement issued after talks between Prime Minister and President Bush.

3. The Indo-US Working Group on Civil Nuclear Energy Cooperation, that is led by Foreign Secretary and Under Secretary Burns, will also meet on 21 December 2005.

4. The visit will provide Foreign Secretary an opportunity to assess forward movement on the Indo-US Energy Dialogue when he meets with his Steering Committee Co-Chair, Under Secretary of Energy David Garman.