U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns will visit Afghanistan and India on May 22-27, the U.S. Department of State has said.
"In Afghanistan, Under Secretary Burns will meet with senior Afghan officials in Kabul to build on the progress achieved during the successful May 10-14 visit of President Karzai and his cabinet to Washington, DC, and he will meet with Afghan and U.S. officials at a Provincial Reconstruction Team," the department said in a statement.
Karzai's relations with the West were strained last year by his fraud-tainted reelection in November. The U.S. has repeatedly called for the Afghan leader to take steps to clean up corruption in his government.
The tone of U.S-Afghan relations improved during Karzai's visit to Washington on May 10-14. The visit resulted in the two countries pledging to beef up Afghan security forces and root out corruption.
Burns visit to Afghanistan will take place amid an ongoing build-up of NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the southern Central Asian state. ISAF operates in the country under a UN mandate to give security support to the Afghan government and stop the flow of drugs from the country.
In India, Burns will discuss with the country's senior officials preparations for a U.S.-India summit due in Washington on June 1-4, the statement said.
WASHINGTON, May 22 (RIA Novosti)
