Washington, Jul 12: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will visit Chennai during her India visit on July 19-20.
“During her trip to India, Clinton will also visit Chennai, marking the first visit by a serving US Secretary of State to the city, which has emerged as a hub for the trade, investment, and people-to-people engagement that is driving the US-India relationship,” State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said.
During her stay in Chennai, Clinton is expected to visit the Ford factory, which manufactures' cars for not only the Indian market but also for exports to other parts of the world. She is also expected to hold a town hall meeting in Chennai.
Clinton will discuss the entire scope of Indo-US relationship with her Indian counterpart S M Krishna during the second round of Strategic Dialogue, Nuland said.
“In general, we plan to talk about the entire scope of US-Indian relations, but also our work together regionally and globally,” Nuland told reporters at her daily news conference.
Among other issues, Afghanistan would also be discussed with India, Nuland said in response to a question.
“I would expect that Afghanistan will be one of the subjects that she talks about bilaterally in India,” Nuland said.
Leading a high-powered US delegation, Clinton, would be travelling to India on July 19-20 with stops at New Delhi and Chennai for the second round of Strategic Dialogue. The focus would be on giving a new thrust to the relationship between the two countries.
“The depth of the US-India Strategic Dialogue demonstrates the United States' strong support for India as an important actor on the world stage and is representative of the broad and multifaceted US-India relationship,” Clinton said last week.
Nuland said the partnership between the world's two largest democracies covers issues ranging from counterterrorism and defense cooperation to climate change, high-tech trade, and scientific innovation.
“Together, the United States and India are working to face the most important and pressing challenges of our time,” Nuland said.
This is Clinton's second trip to India in her capacity as the Secretary of State. PTI
