By IANS,
New Delhi : In a trip that underlines India’s new-found confidence in juggling diverse partners, India’s External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna goes first to the US and then heads to Cuba, a known America-baiter, next week.
Krishna will co-chair the third edition of the India-US Strategic Dialogue in Washington June 13. After the dialogue ends June 14, he heads to Havana, an ideological rival of Washington that hosted the 2006 summit of the Non-Aligned Movement.
Indian officials are at pains to stress that there is no messaging here except that it makes logistical sense to combine the two capitals, which may be ideologically apart but are located not far from each other.
Besides bilateral talks with Cuban leaders, Krishna will hold a meeting of the heads of Indian missions in Latin American and Caribbean countries in Havana. It is part of the new outreach programme that strives to make Indian missions sensitive to the needs of the Indians living in those countries.
Energy cooperation will also be high on the agenda. ONGC Videsh has invested around $70 million in oil exploration in Cuba.