Top US General arriving on Monday; Lanka, Pak on agenda

On his arrival here from Singapore on Monday, General Peter Pace, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, will receive a classified 35-minute briefing at South Block8217;s Naval Operations Room on India8217;s security perspective. The session will include presentations on China, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

Gen Pace, visiting India on an invitation from Navy Chief Admiral Arun Prakash, will also receive a briefing on Washington8217;s regional security perspective from the US Embassy later in the day. He is scheduled to meet Air Chief SP Tyagi and Army Chief General JJ Singh on Tuesday before leaving for Agra, to see the Taj Mahal, and the Army Training Command in Shimla.

While officially, the Defence Ministry said there was no specific agenda for the General8217;s visit, top sources said that discussions would include New Delhi8217;s interest in joining the US-led proliferation security initiative PSI to network interdiction of ships suspected of carrying weapons of mass destruction and the institutionalisation of operational intelligence sharing between command formations of the two militaries.