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  India   John Kerry visit to Delhi shrines postponed

John Kerry visit to Delhi shrines postponed

AGE CORRESPONDENT
Published : Aug 30, 2016, 7:05 am IST
Updated : Aug 30, 2016, 7:05 am IST

The proposed visits of US secretary of state John Kerry to the Sisganj Gurudwara, Jama Masjid and a Hindu temple on Tuesday morning was cancelled on Monday evening, apparently at the behest of the US

The proposed visits of US secretary of state John Kerry to the Sisganj Gurudwara, Jama Masjid and a Hindu temple on Tuesday morning was cancelled on Monday evening, apparently at the behest of the US embassy on account of “scheduling” issues, with Indian government sources saying the visits to the three shrines may take place on Wednesday, if at all.

Mr Kerry reached New Delhi on Monday evening for a three-day visit to participate in strategic dialogue with external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj.

The second India-US Strategic and Commercial Dialogue (S&CD) will be held in New Delhi on Tuesday. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and minister of state (independent charge) for commerce and industry, Nirmala Sitharaman, will co-chair the dialogue on the Indian side, along with

Mr Kerry and US secretary of commerce Penny Pritzker. The co-chairs will be accompanied by a high-level inter-agency delegation on both sides.

The MEA had earlier said “the S&CD is the most comprehensive mechanism to discuss and deliberate the entire gamut of cooperation between the two countries. The decision to elevate the India-US strategic dialogue into a strategic and commercial dialogue was taken during the visit of US President Barack Obama to India in January 2015. The forthcoming strategic and commercial dialogue will also review the progress made in the implementation of the various decisions taken in the recent summit held in June 2016 in Washington D.C. and identify possible areas for future cooperation.”

India and the United States have moved very close politically to each other in the past two years of the Modi Government’s tenure.

Location: India, Delhi, New Delhi