With President Barack Obama's upcoming visit to India in the backdrop, the State Department has confirmed that discussions held this week with Indian government representatives focussed on the next round of the United States-India Strategic Security Dialogue scheduled for this fall in Washington.

According to a statement by the State Department Spokesman, Under-Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Ellen Tauscher and Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao had discussed preparations for Round II of the Strategic Dialogue after the exercise began in early June.

Event to foster cooperation

Further, it was confirmed that Robert Hormats, Under-Secretary for Economic, Energy, and Agricultural Affairs, met with Indian Ambassador to the U.S. Meera Shankar, K. Kasturirangan and V.S. Senthil, Minister (Economic), on August 12.

In particular, the statement noted that Dr. Kasturirangan was leading the Indian delegation for ‘Increasing Meteorological and Agricultural Cooperation between the government of India and the government of the U.S,' an event hosted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Striking an optimistic note on the meetings, the State Department said the U.S. and Indian delegations were “enthusiastic about the continued cooperation in crop and weather forecasting and discussed areas for advancing our cooperation such as agriculture, space and economics.”

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