Menon, Clinton discuss a host of issues

A host of issues, including investigation into the Mumbai terror strikes, Afghanistan conflict and Sri Lankan civil war discussed in length during the first high level official interaction between India and US after President Barack Obama assumed office on January 20 this year.

Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon, who is on a four-day tour to US that coming to last on Wednesday, met US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, in Washington on Monday and had discussions on counter-terrorism cooperation, regional and bilateral issues. He also met Deputy Secretary, James B Steinberg, and US special representative on Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke.

Indian officials did not divulge what issues were discussed in the meeting, but a State Department official said the two leaders held discussions on ongoing conflict in Sri Lanka, current humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka, non-proliferation, counter-terrorism including Mumbai and Afghanistan at the meeting that lasted for about half an hour.

Earlier, Robert Wood, a US State Department spokesman, told reporters: “It's hard for me to speculate on all the issues that may come up. Certainly, the secretary is going to want to hear from the foreign secretary about how things are progressing with regard to the Mumbai investigation.”

“We value the relationship between the United States and India,” Wood said, and added it was Menon who played a vital role in striking the Indo-US nuclear deal.

Wood said that US wanted Pakistan to do more to bring perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks to justice. He, however, admitted that Pakistan has been providing some helpful information, but insisted Islamabad needs to do more to root out terrorism there.

Menon also discussed with National Security Adviser General James Jones on a number of issues, including, the progress in the investigation of Mumbai terror strikes, Pakistan-Afghanistan strategic review by the US. On the issue of Afghanistan, the two leaders agreed that military alone is not enough to tackle the problem. The economic development is essential to solve the deep-rooted problem.

Menon, whose four days visit come to an end on Wednesday, would also hold talks with his counterpart Under Secretary for Political Affairs, William Burns, and with Pentagon officials, leading lawmakers and other think-tanks.