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Vajpayee to visit US in September, follow-up on gains of Clinton visit

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee will pay a three-day official visit to the United States from September 15 for in-depth talks with President Bill Clinton on broadening the co-operation between the two countries across a 'wide range of common interests'.

Announcing the visit, a spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday said the discussions will contribute to a closer and qualitatively new relationship visualised during Clinton's visit to India in March this year.

The prime minister, who will leave on September five, will also attend the millennium summit of the United Nations General Assembly, besides visiting some other nations. Vajpayee will be in Washington from September 15 to 17. He will also be visiting New York and San Francisco.

National Security Advisor and Principal Secretary to the prime minister Brajesh Mishra is currently in Washington to give final touches to Vajpayee's itinerary.

The spokesman said talks between Vajpayee and Clinton would cover a broad spectrum of issues and 'it will be a mistake to link the visit to any particular issue' referring to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. The two countries are already co-operating on the issue of terrorism. The second meeting of the high-level joint group on counter terrorism will also be held in New Delhi in September.

The US had already extended support to India's draft proposal on the comprehensive convention on terrorism, which will come up for discussion in the coming general assembly session.

US Under Secretary of State Thomas Pickering, who was in India in May in connection with the Asian security dialogue, will visit New Delhi before Vajpayee leaves on his foreign trip.

UNI

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