US Pacific Command chief arriving tomorrow

Top of the agenda will be the long-pending issue of sending an Indian officer on deputation to the Hawaii-based Pacific Command. Sources said an Army or Navy officer is likely to be chosen.

However, South Block has told Washington it is keener to embed an officer at the Central Command, Florida. Twenty-five countries are in Centcom8217;s area of responsibility, including Pakistan, Iraq, and Afghanistan. The government agreed on the Pacom offer after the Commander of the US Pacific Fleet Gary Roughead and Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee met in May this year and identified a shared military-diplomatic focus in engaging Beijing.

Other issues that are scheduled to come up during official talks here are the North Korean nuclear test, a discussion on the upcoming Indo-US Malabar joint exercise, and the possibility of upgrading the Indian Navy from observer to participant status by 2008 at the Rim of the Pacific , the world8217;s largest multinational naval exercise.