John Kerry arrives in India for 2nd Indo-US strategic dialogue

New Delhi: US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in the national capital on Monday to participate in the 2nd Indo-US Strategic and Commercial Dialogue to be held Tuesday where terrorism emanating from Pakistan and other important issues, including economic matters like visas, will be discussed.

During the Dialogue, to be co-chaired by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman along with Kerry and US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, the entire gamut of cooperation between the two countries will be taken up.

The co-chairs will be accompanied by a high-level inter- agency delegation on both sides.

During the day-long meeting, Sitharaman will discuss bilateral trade and investment related matters with her US counterpart Pritzker.

According to an official, issues like visa and totalisation agreement are likely to figure in the meeting.

Besides, the two sides would deliberate on ways to promote innovation and entrepreneurship.

The Dialogue is a comprehensive mechanism to discuss and deliberate the entire gamut of cooperation between the two countries.

From Indian side, Tata Group Chairman Cyrus Mistry will co-chair the India-US CEO Forum meeting.

At the CEO Forum, both the sides will review the progress made so far on deliberations such as boosting renewable energy and defence ties and smart city project, and also discuss the roadmap to achieve the objectives.

The Dialogue was elevated into a Strategic and Commercial Dialogue (S&CD) during the visit of US President Barack Obama to India in January 2015.

The first S&CD was held on September 22, 2015 in the US.

The two-way trade between the countries stood at about USD 109 billion last year.