Hillary meets Mamata

With FDI, Teesta treaty on agenda, Hillary meets Mamata

Kolkata, 7 May: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is on a three-day visit to India, is currently meeting West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

 

Hillary, who is on second ever visit to Kolkata, is expected to pitch for foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail, discuss Teesta treaty and prospects of US investment in West Bengal with Mamata Banerjee.

Interestingly, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief has proved to be the toughest roadblock for the UPA government in opening up of FDI in retail.

Earlier today, Hillary Clinton said that more can be done to reduce barriers to trade and investment between the US and India.

“Relations between the US and India most important in the world,” the US Secretary of State said.

Hillary Clinton, who is on a three-day visit to India, will meet West Bengal’s first woman Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today.

Hillary, who is on second ever visit to Kolkata, is expected to pitch for foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail, discuss Teesta treaty and prospects of US investment in West Bengal with Mamata Banerjee.

Interestingly, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief has proved to be the toughest roadblock for the UPA government in opening up of FDI in retail.

The US Secretary of State on Sunday spent the first day of her two-day trip to Kolkata, a city she returned to after about 15 years, with a socio-cultural itinerary, meeting young women rescued from human traffickers and visiting the British era Victoria Memorial.

Hillary Clinton hosted a dinner for senior officials of the US consulate here, as the city was virtually turned into a fortress to ensure fool-proof security for one of the most powerful politicians of the world.

She also met representatives of several NGOs working towards preventing human trafficking and told them to “keep up the spirit”. Hillary Clinton also offered to help them.

Hillary Clinton also visited the British era museum Victoria Memorial – housing a major collection of paintings, sculptures and manuscripts from the British period and a rich collection of a visual history of Kolkata.

“It is a monumental hall. It has been well preserved. For long, I wanted to visit the Victoria Memorial. It has been a treat for me,” Hillary exclaimed after spending 15 minutes at the museum.

Ahead of Hillaty’s visit, External Affairs Minister SM Krishna met Banerjee to discuss Hillary’s trip to Kolkata and issues that are expected to figure in the discussions.

Hillary touches down in New Delhi Monday evening and will hold wide-ranging talks with Krishna next day to set the stage for the India-US strategic dialogue in Washington next month.

India to juggle ties with US, Iran

India will be juggling its ties with Iran and the US as it gears up to hold talks with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday even as an Iranian trade delegation will be here to find ways to do business with Indian companies.

The Iranian nuclear issue and sanctions imposed by the US and the EU to squeeze the Tehran regime suspected of developing nuclear weapons will be a key regional issue on the table when Hillary Clinton holds talks with her Indian counterpart SM Krishna on Tuesday.

Besides Krishna, she is expected to call on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and meet National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon.

The agenda for the talks has not been unveiled, but officials involved with the visit said “all issues that have a bearing on the India-US relation” will be discussed.

With the international coalition troops planning to complete their withdrawal from Afghanistan by 2014, cooperation in stabilising the violence-torn country will be top of the agenda.

Clinton’s visit to India takes place before a series of important global initiatives on Afghanistan, including the NATO summit in the US and the Tokyo conference next month.

India is expected to brief Hillary Clinton about a conclave of regional investors it plans to organise here in June to rope in key regional players for the stability and development of Afghansitan, said official sources.

India is also likely to seek clarification over confusing remarks by the US envoy to Pakistan over the bounty on 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed. (With Additional Inputs from Agencies)

 

 

 US agrees to treat WB as partner for investment: Mamata

 

Kolkata, 7 May: The U.S. has agreed to treat West Bengal as a partner state for investment in the changed political situation, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said in Kolkata on Monday.

“As per partner state, they will invest in West Bengal which was not taking place due to the political situation in the past,” Mamata told reporters after a 52-minute meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

She also said that the issue of FDI in retail did not come up during the meeting.

She said that the areas identified for U.S. investment were IT, software sector, manufacturing, deep sea port, tourism, health care and education.

 

“They will give full support for economic and business development,” Mr. Banerjee said, adding that Chief Secretary Samar Ghosh and U.S. Ambassador Nancy Powell would coordinate and monitor the progress.

Describing her meeting with Clinton as “positive, constructive, creative and concrete”, the chief minister said that Teesta water-sharing agreement and FDI in retail issues did not figure in the discussion.

“There were no talks about Teesta (water-sharing with Bangladesh). There were no talks on FDI in retail. No nuclear or strategic issues were discussed,” Mamata Banerjee told reporters in reply to a volley of questions.

Hillary Clinton welcomed the political change in the state after 34 years and expressed her happiness at the implementation of programmes taken up.

“We discussed many issues. She congratulated us. Clinton appreciated our passion of work and implementation of programmes.”