Under Secretary for Political Affairs R. Nicholas Burns' Travel to the United Kingdom, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka
The U.S. Department of State issued the following statement in Washington, D.C., on January 13, 2006: Under Secretary for Political Affairs R. Nicholas Burns will travel to the United Kingdom, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka from January 16 to 25, 2006.
On January 16 in London, Under Secretary Burns will take part in consultations with officials from the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia and China on the diplomatic way ahead in dealing with Iran's continued defiance of the international community.
Under Secretary Burns will then travel to India for discussions that seek to advance the new strategic partnership between the two countries. The Under Secretary and his Indian counterpart, Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran, will hold the fourth meeting of the Joint Working Group on Civil Nuclear Cooperation and discuss further implementation of the initiatives agreed upon in the July 18 Joint Statement.
On his inaugural trip to Pakistan, Under Secretary Burns will meet with senior Pakistani officials and opinion leaders to discuss broadening the U.S.-Pakistan bilateral relationship, to review Pakistan's progress towards full democracy, to explore ways to foster greater regional cooperation, and to express the United States' continued support for earthquake relief and reconstruction efforts.
Finally, in Sri Lanka Under Secretary Burns will discuss the current status of the peace process with the Sri Lankan Government, Norwegian Special Envoy Erik Solheim, and others to reiterate the strong U.S. desire to see all Sri Lankans work for peace. He will call again for the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to resume talks on strengthening the Ceasefire Agreement as soon as possible.