The Ministry of External Affairs has a packed schedule next week as it gets ready to host US Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker for the second India-US Strategic and Commercial Dialogue (S&CD) on August 30, besides the Presidents of Egypt and Myanmar.
The Indian side will be led by Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj, while Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman will co-chair the dialogue on the Indian side on the commercial aspects. Apart from identifying possible areas for future cooperation, the S&CD will also review the progress made in the implementation of the various decisions taken in the recent Summit held in June 2016 in Washington.
The decision to elevate the India-US Strategic Dialogue into a Strategic and Commercial Dialogue was taken during the visit of US President Barack Obama to India in January 2015. The inaugural meeting was held in Washington on September 22, 2015. The S&CD is the most comprehensive mechanism to discuss and deliberate the entire gamut of cooperation between the two countries.
For his part, Egypt President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi will be on his first bilateral visit to New Delhi from September 1-3 on the invitation of President Pranab Mukherjee. Defence and security co-operations along with improving bilateral trade are high on agenda. With Sisi’s key security officials also coming with him, ISIS and Islamic terrorism will also be discussed. India is seeking Islamic countries’ support for the Comprehensive Convention on Terrorism.
“We have a lot to talk about these issues,” said Amar Sinha, Secretary (Economic Relations). Since Egypt is part of Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC), where Pakistan has been drumming up support for Kashmir issue, India will use the meeting with Sisi to expose Pak interference and efforts to destablise the region. “On J&K, OIC has no locus standi and their statements on Kashmir have been public posturing which is different from what they tell us privately. We want OIC countries to say all that openly on Kashmir and Pakistan what they tell us privately,” Sinha added.
President of Myanmar U Htin Kyaw too will pay a four-day visit to India from August 27 to 30. Htin will begin his visit on Saturday from Bodh Gaya, where he will pray at the Mahabodhi Temple and visit an archaeological site. On Sunday, he will visit Agra to see Taj Mahal before reaching Delhi. His talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday will cover various aspects of India-Myanmar relationship.
Meanwhile, Singapore deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam on Friday met PM Narendra Modi and briefed him on the status of various bilateral cooperation initiatives, especially in the areas of Skill Development and Smart Cities. Modi said he was keenly looking forward to the visit of his Singapore counterpart lee Hsien loong to India in the near future.