Krishna, Clinton discuss bilateral ties, Tri-Valley, Egypt

Betwa Sharma

New York, Feb 13 (PTI) External Affairs Minister S MKrishna and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today discussedbilateral ties and her upcoming visit to India for the nextround of Indo-US strategic dialogue.

In a 15-minute telephonic conversation, they alsotalked about the Tri-Valley university Indian student issueand the recent events in Egypt, sources told PTI.

Krishna welcomed Clinton in advance and said he lookedforward to her visit to India. Clinton will come to India inApril for the second round of the India-US strategic dialogue.

Krishna has been in New York since Thursday to pushIndia''s agenda for UN Security Council reforms and also tofurther to look into the situation of more than 1,000 Indianstudents from TVU who have lost their visa status.

According to a federal complaint filed in aCalifornia court in January, the University helped foreignnationals illegally acquire immigration status. The universityis said to have 1,555 students. As many as 95 per cent ofthese students are Indian nationals, the complaint said.

Investigations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement(ICE) have found that while students were admitted to variousresidential and on-line courses of the university and on paperlived in California, but in reality they "illegally" worked invarious parts of the country as far as Maryland, Virginia,Pennsylvania and Texas.

On the TVU students, Krishna told Clinton that whilethe US investigates the university, these students must begiven humanitarian considerations so that their cases areresolved quickly and they can join other institutions.

Krishna met with around 30 of these students onSaturday.

Both leaders also discussed the political developmentsin Egypt. Following several days of protests President HosniMubarak was forced to step down, ending his 30-year reign.

Both India and US welcomed the resignation of Mubarak.