George will bump into Rumsfeld

US attempts to prevent the situation in the sub-continent from deteriorating further will get another chance when Secretary of Defence Donal...

US attempts to prevent the situation in the sub-continent from deteriorating further will get another chance when Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld and Defence Minister George Fernandes come across each other in Singapore later this month.

Rumsfeld and Fernandes are scheduled to be in Singapore for the first IISS Asia Security Conference, which gets underway May 31; Rumsfeld has already confirmed his participation. The three-day conference, organised by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), will bring together 15 defence ministers of the Asia-Pacific region, European defence officials, members of the US Congress and leading independent analysts.

The heat is on

• PM likely to go to the Valley, Jammu, next week, Manali visit deferred
• US State Dept statement asks India, Pak to hold talks
• 10 Pak soldiers killed in firing
• Pak vows to retaliate with “equal or more steps”
• Musharraf calls all military personnel to Army HQs

Pakistan, which is not a dialogue partner in the ASEAN, has not been invited. Loosely modelled on the annual Wehrkunde meeting in Munich involving a principally trans-Atlantic group, the IISS conference is likely to have sessions devoted to current events, US security policy in the Asia-Pacific, China’s security and defence priorities, regional security issues and Europe and Asian security.

In New Delhi, considerable importance is also being attached to Defence secretary Yogendra Narain’s trip to the US — he leaves late tonight, carrying a ‘‘catalogue’’ of Pak-sponsored terror in India — though the dates had been worked out much earlier. ‘‘This will be a part of the defence policy group (DPG) meeting between Narain and his US counterpart Douglas Feith. Narain will apprise the US about India’s strong views on Pakistan sponsored terrorism,’’ ministry sources told The Indian Express.

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Narain will meet deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage, assistant secretary Christina Rocca and, for the first time, see the functioning of the ‘Net Assessment Office.’ India will also work towards setting up a similar office at home to evaluate the progress in relationship and assess the strategy and policy in this region, an official said.

Narain leads a 14-member delegation which includes additional secretary (MoD) Ajay Prasad, Joint Secretary (Americas) Jayant Prasad and Defence officials.