Hillary Clinton arrives in Kolkata

Kolkata, May 6 (IANS) US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived here Sunday on a two-day visit during which she would hold talks with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and interact with a cross-section of people.

Clinton, 64, flew into Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport on a special flight from Dhaka at 12.55 p.m., running 15 minutes behind schedule, and was received by two bureaucrats of the state government.

She waved to the waiting camerapersons at the airport and posed for photos before boarding a limousine which headed for her hotel in South Kolkata amid tight security.

The high point of Clinton's visit, her second to the city and first after becoming the US Secretary of state, will be her meeting with Banerjee at the state secretariat, Writers' Building, Monday 11 a.m.

Sunday, she will attend a cultural programme at the Indian Council for Cultural Relations auditorium in central Kolkata and visit Victoria Memorial.

Monday, prior to her discussions with Banerjee, she would address intellectuals, academicians and other eminent personalities of the city.

Clinton had earlier visited the city as the US first lady to attend the funeral of Mother Teresa in September 1997.

null