Hillary Clinton to visit China, Bangladesh, India

WASHINGTON - US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will travel to China, Bangladesh and India early next month over bilateral relations with these Asian nations, the State Department said on Thursday.

While in Beijing on May 3-4, the top US envoy and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will join their Chinese co-chairs, Vice Premier Wang Qishan and State Councilor Dai Bingguo, for the fourth round of the US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S& ED).

The S&ED was created in 2009 to help both nations manage their bilateral relations and promote communication.

"As with earlier S&EDs, this year's event will be a 'whole of government' dialogue that brings together cabinet members and agency heads, as well as other officials and experts, from agencies across both of our governments," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement.

In addition, Clinton will co-chair with Chinese State Councilor Liu Yandong the third US-China High-Level Consultation on People- to-People Exchange (CPE), an event to be held in parallel with the S&ED.

"The CPE aims to enhance and strengthen ties between the citizens of the United States and China in the areas of culture, education, sports, science and technology, and women's issues," Nuland said.

During her stay in Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh, the secretary will meet with senior government officials and civil society representatives to review "robust" bilateral cooperation across a range of political, economic and security matters, the spokeswoman said.

In Calcutta, capital of India's West Bengal state, Clinton looks forward to meeting state officials and civil society organization representatives.

While in India's capital of New Delhi, she will discuss with Indian government officials about the upcoming US-India Strategic Dialogue to be held in Washington on June 13, Nuland said.