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Spate of meetings scheduled during Clinton's visit

Amberish K Diwanji in New Delhi

Besides the much-talked about meeting between Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and United States President William Jefferson Clinton tomorrow, three other top-level meetings have been scheduled.

It has also been learnt that while US President Bill Clinton will only stop over in Islamabad for five hours, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, will stay behind in Pakistan for a longer visit.

On March 21, the first high-level meeting will take place over breakfast at 7.45 am between the two national security advisors -- Brajesh Mishra of India and Sandy Berger of the US. Brajesh Mishra, who is also the prime minister's principal secretary, is known to be close to Vajpayee. After this meeting, to be held at Maurya Sheraton hotel where the US delegation is staying, Mishra is expected to provide Vajpayee with key inputs for the meeting with the US president.

After Mishra's one-on-one and the prime minister's summit-level meet with Bill Clinton, on March 22, Indian foreign minister will meet his counterpart, Madeleine Albright. This is also a breakfast meeting scheduled at the Maurya Sheraton hotel. Singh held 10 rounds of talks with Albright's deputy, Strobe Talbott, soon after India's nuclear tests at Pokhran in May 1998.

Finally, the third one-on-one ministerial meeting will be between US Commerce Secretary William Daley and India's Minister for Industry and Commerce Murasoli Maran. Daley and Maran will also attend a conference, being organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, where Daley will deliver a keynote address on 'Indo-US Trade and Investment - An Agenda for Action'.

Jaswant Singh's talks with Madeleine Albright, say sources in the ministry of external affairs, will not break any new ground.

"After 10 rounds of talks, these two do not really have a lot of substance to add, but it will give them a chance to cover the past rounds of talks and seek to find common ground," the sources said.

Singh had been highly appreciative of the fact that Albright had recently declared that Pakistan must stop cross-border terrorism to help improve the situation in south Asia. Singh will seek to further push this agenda with the hope of getting Albright to put further pressure on Pakistan.

In another development, it is learnt that Madeleine Albright will stay back in Islamabad after Bill Clinton departs for home. She is expected to hold additional meetings with the Pakistani top brass where she is likely to stress the need for restoring democracy and curbing terrorism in Afghanistan, the MEA sources said.

Albright is also likely to put pressure on Pakistan to try to secure the arrest of Osama bin Laden, whom the US accuses of masterminding the bombings of US embassies. It is not known whether she will be meeting with Pakistan's chief executive General Pervez Musharraf.

CLINTON VISITS INDIA : The complete coverage

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