Washington, DC
March 29, 2006

Mr. Shyam Saran, Foreign Secretary of India, will visit Washington DC from March 28-31 to continue bilateral discussions with his US counterpart, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Mr. Nicholas Burns. During the visit, he will also call on members of Congress and other senior officials in the US Administration. On March 30, at 10.00 AM he will deliver a talk at The Heritage Foundation (214 Massachusetts Ave NE, Washington DC) on the topic- 'Indo-US Relations: An agenda for the future'. He will hold an end of the visit Press Conference on March 31, the exact timings of which will be announced later. 

Mr. Murli Deora, Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas will visit Houston from March 29 to April 1, 2006 to participate in Roadshows to launch the sixth round of New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP-VI) and third round of Coal Bed Methane (CBM-III). He will also visit Washington DC from April 2 to April 4, where he will deliver a Keynote address at the US Energy Association Annual General Meeting.

Mr. Kapil Sibal, Minister for Science and Technology, Biotechnology and Ocean Development will visit U.S.A. from April 4 to April 11, 2006. He will launch the India- US Biotech Working Group in New York on April 5. He will visit Washington DC, from April 6 to April 8 to discuss matters relating to constitution of the Indo-US Science & Technology Bi-national Commission with the Department of State, address a knowledge initiative meeting jointly organized by Confederation of Indian Industry/ Technology & Innovation in Education, DC/ Pan IIT (Indian Institute of Technology alumni) and visit some premier institutions such as the National Institute of Health etc. He will then proceed to Chicago where he will address BIO-2006, a Ministerial Conference on Biotechnology and an India Seminar on Food & Agriculture. 

Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, will visit Washington DC from April 19 to April 21, 2006. He will deliver an address at American Enterprise Institute and will have meetings at the World Bank and USIBC. He will also visit New York on April 24, 2006. 

Mr. Sushil Kumar Shinde, Minister of Power, will visit Washington DC from April 24 to April 27, 2006. He will visit New York on April 24, Chicago on April 27/28 and Los Angeles from May 1 to May 3,2006. During his visit to USA, he will meet representatives of US Industry for encouraging investment in Indian Power and Energy sector.