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Sushma to take up snooping with Kerry

Last Updated 30 July 2014, 20:51 IST

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will on Thursday convey to US Secretary of State John Kerry the “disquiet” in the country over purported authorisation of the US National Security Agency to spy upon the BJP. The two nations are set to explore “transformative initiatives” to take ties to the next level. 

Kerry and Swaraj will on Thursday co-chair the fifth India-US strategic dialogue – the first major diplomatic engagement between the two countries after the change of regime in New Delhi. The top US official arrived in New Delhi on Wednesday. 

US Secretary of Commerce, Penny Pritzker, who was in Mumbai on Wednesday, will also join Kerry in the strategic dialogue and hold talks with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Commerce, Nirmala Sitharaman.

Swaraj and Kerry will also start preparation for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US and his meeting with American President Barack Obama in the White House on September 30 next.

New Delhi called the strategic dialogue on Thursday an opportunity to explore “transformative initiatives” that could move the India-US relations to the next level”, but also made it clear that thorny issues would not be swept under the carpet. 

The Ministry of External Affairs indicated that Swaraj would take up with Kerry the revelations made by whistleblower Edward Snowden that the American NSA had obtained authorisation from a US court to put under surveillance the BJP along with five other political parties around the world.

“There is considerable disquiet in the country over the issue and leaders do reflect public concerns,” MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin told journalists, when he was asked if the snooping by the US agencies would be discussed during the strategic dialogue. The Washington Post had revealed that a US court had in 2010 given nod to the NSA after it sought permission to carry out surveillance on the BJP.

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(Published 30 July 2014, 20:51 IST)

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