Hillary to meet Mamata on May 7

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will visit Kolkata on May 7 where she is expected to meet West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. While it is yet to be finalised,this meeting will assume significance in the light of Mamata’s opposition to FDI in retail. The US is keen to enter the retail sector in India through the FDI route.

Clinton will visit New Delhi on May 8 and hold talks with External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and senior government officials,MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said here on Thursday. The MEA spokesperson added that the India-US strategic dialogue — co-chaired by Krishna and Clinton — will be held on June 13 in Washington DC.

During her India trip,Clinton is expected to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

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Clinton will be here as part of a three-nation Asia tour to consult with the

Indian leadership on key regional and global issues,including Afghanistan,Pakistan,China and Myanmar.

The India visit was not on her initial itinerary that was primarily meant to attend the fourth round of US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Beijing on May 3-4. She will visit Bangladesh on May 5 and 6.