New Delhi: Visiting US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh at his official residence at 7, Race Course Road here on Monday. It is believed that discussion took place on terrorism, Pakistan and on ways to enhance bilateral relations. Clinton was accompanied by US Ambassador-designate Timothy Roemer. Later in the day, Clinton met UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi at her residence and External Affairs Minister SM Krishna at Hyderabad House. The two sides later signed a series of bilateral agreements after their discussions, including an "end-use monitoring" agreement to ease the sale of sophisticated US arms to New Delhi. The top agenda of the evening's meeting was the unveiling of the new strategic dialogue architecture, which will cover areas like non-proliferation, security, education, health and development. The other highlight was the signing of an agreement to facilitate the launch of US satellites and satellites with US components on Indian launch vehicles. The new Technology Safeguards Agreement (TSA) covers launches involving satellites owned by US Government or academic institutions or by third country space agencies and universities which have US equipment on board. Another agreement on a framework for robust result-oriented cooperation in science and technology for collaborative research and its commercialization will also be signed between the two countries. Clinton later addressed a press conference in the evening.
-July 20, 2009