‘No plan’ to visit Mumbai or Pak during Rice's India tour: US

Washington, Dec 02, 2008: The schedule of the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's India visit is still being worked on but there is "no plan" of her travel to Mumbai or Pakistan as of now, the State Department has said. The United States often has discussions with many countries on how to come to terms with terrorists or third state actors but stamping out terrorism is not easy as this required coordinated work, said Robert Wood, Deputy Spokesman at Foggy Bottom.

"... they’re still working on the schedule. She'll be meeting with, of course, Indian officials, and she will be there to express condolences of the US Government and the people of the United States to the Indian government and the Indian people for the tragedy that took place last week."

"And as I said, they're still working out the schedule, so I don't have any details in terms of with whom she'll be meeting yet. But we'll get that to you as soon as we have it," Wood said adding that at this point, there's "no plan" of travel to Mumbai where around 200 people, including foreigners, were killed in terror attacks last week.

"At this point, there are no other travel plans, but we'll keep you updated if there is a change in her schedule," the State Department official replied when asked about the prospect of the Secretary travelling to Pakistan.

Talking about how to come to terms with the third state actors in dealing with terrorism, Wood called for a coordinated effort to fight the menace.

(Agencies)