U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is departing Friday for India and Kazakhstan on a trip that includes talks in New Delhi about the U.S.-India civilian nuclear agreement approved this week by Congress, the State Department said Thursday. The top U.S. diplomat “will travel to India and Kazakhstan on October 3rd through the 5th,” spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters. In India, Rice will meet with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, opposition leader L.K. Advani, and other Indian leaders to discuss various issues, including the bilateral civilian nuclear deal approved by the U.S. Senate late Wednesday. “They will discuss a wide range of issues, including the U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Cooperation Initiative, trade, counter-terrorism, human rights, religious freedom, and education,” McCormack said. McCormack could not say whether Rice would sign any nuclear agreements while in New Delhi following Indian news reports that she would sign the deal's operating agreement with Mukherjee during her visit. In energy-rich Kazakhstan, Rice will meet with President Nursultan Nazarbeyev, Prime Minister Karim Masimov, and other officials on security and energy cooperation and political and economic reforms, McCormack said.
