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US, India to talk non-proliferation cooperation

By IANS

Washington : US Assistant Secretary of State John C. Rood will lead a delegation to India June 13-14 to continue the long-standing dialogue between the two countries on non-proliferation and security issues.

He will meet with officials from India's Ministry of External Affairs to discuss global nonproliferation challenges and approaches to addressing them, including multilateral initiatives and strategic trade controls, the State Department announced Friday. He also will engage on regional security issues, including nuclear and missile issues and missile defence,it said.

Rood will earlier lead a US delegation to the third meeting of Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism in Astana, Kazakhstan, June 11-12. Rood together with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak will chair the meeting.

In Astana, Rood will be joined by US National Nuclear Security Administration Deputy Administrator, William Tobey, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for Global Security Affairs, Joseph Benkert, and Director of the Defence Threat Reduction Agency, Dr. James Tegnelia.

Global Initiative partner nations will review the progress of current Plan of Work activities designed to build partnership capacity, discuss means to address potential gaps in implementation, and welcome new partner nations.

Participants also will link up via video conference with the FBI sponsored International Nuclear Terrorism Law Enforcement Conference in Miami, Florida, a Global Initiative activity bringing together more than 500 law enforcement officers from 20 countries June 11-15. There are presently 50 partner nations in the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism.