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Pranab in US, meets Rice

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June 27, 2005 22:45 IST

Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee began his visit to the United States with a meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Washington, DC on Monday.

Besides bilateral issues, both the leaders are understood to have deliberated on topics of strategic importance.

Mukherjee is on a nine-day official visit to the United States at the invitation of US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

The minister's visit comes ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's trip to Washington next month.

Defence Secretary Ajai Vikram Singh and senior ministry officials accompany Mukherjee.

The visit comes in the wake of US agreeing to cooperate with India in matters relating to defence hardware.

He is scheduled to meet US Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, and Rumsfeld.

Mukherjee had said his visit was mainly of exploratory nature to further Indo-US relations.

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