Menon meets top US officials, promised full support

Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon met Deputy Secretary John Negroponte and Under Secretary William Burns during his two-day visit to US.

The United States on Wednesday promised “full cooperation and support” to India at various levels to deal with the consequences of the Mumbai terror attacks even as the two sides asserted that the perpetrators of the carnage be held accountable.

“All the interlocutors expressed sympathy and support to the government and people of India in the context of the heinous terrorist attacks in Mumbai. Unequivocal condemnation of the incident and the need for the perpetrators to be held accountable was reiterated,” the Indian Embassy said in Washington after Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon met with senior State Department officials.

“It was also indicated that there would be full cooperation and support at various levels, including government, from the US to India as it dealt with the consequences of the incident,” the Embassy statement said.

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Menon met Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns during his two-day visit to Washington.

“The meetings covered a range of bilateral issues, including counter-terrorism cooperation, anti-piracy coordination, India-US civil nuclear agreement, defence trade, space cooperation and furthering economic and investment relations between the two countries,” the statement said.

Menon’s visit was planned ahead of the terror attacks in India’s financial capital last week but the trip took place as scheduled and terrorism was indeed on top of the agenda during the discussions, sources said.