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Russian, U.S. Officials to Visit India
India this week is hosting visits by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher and Russian nuclear agency head Sergei Kiriyenko, the Indo-Asian News Service reported (see GSN, April 3). Kiriyenko is expected to arrive Thursday for discussions on building four additional nuclear power plants in Tamil Nadu, while Boucher is set to arrive Friday for talks with Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran and other officials on the proposed U.S.-Indian nuclear technology sharing deal. Boucher’s visit is the first by a U.S. official since President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh signed the deal last month in New Delhi. Boucher said India has “an important role to play” in the region. U.S. legislation to allow the deal to be implemented has been submitted to Congress, but lack of support from lawmakers has caused speculation that the deal would not move forward until next year (Manish Chand, Indo-Asian News Service/Hindustan Times, April 4). Meanwhile, the United States yesterday confirmed that two Iranian warships docked at Indian ports last month, but dismissed the visits as having no relevance to the nuclear deal, Reuters reported. State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said the Iranian layover was a “limited type of event, and doesn't suggest Indian training or Indian contribution to [any] Iranian military capabilities.” “Our understanding is that ... there were ship visits by two ships with naval cadets from Iran into Indian ports. They were not training programs. They were ship visits with naval cadets,” he added (Reuters/New York Times, April 3).
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