Hillary Clinton looking forward to meet 'dynamic' Mamata
"I think she (Clinton) look forwards to seeing Chief Minister Banerjee -- one of India's dynamic women chief ministers," a senior Obama administration official told PTI ahead of the Kolkata visit by the Secretary of State.
As Secretary of State, this would be Ms Clinton's first trip to Kolkata. She will be visiting Bangladesh and India from May 5 to 8.
"In
Kolkata
obviously
we
want
to
hear
from
one
of
the
quite
influential
Chief
Ministers,"
the
official
said.
The
official
involved
in
the
planning
of
the
trip
said
Ms
Clinton
would
like
to
hear
from
Ms
Banerjee
the
"progress"
of
West
Bengal,
since
she
was
elected
the
Chief
Minister
and
what
she
sees
in
terms
of
the
business
environment
there.
Arriving in Kolkata from Bangladesh, Ms Clinton would use the opportunity to talk with the West Bengal Chief Minister on the neighbouring country, the official said.
"Ms Clinton sees this as an important opportunity to discuss (with her) some of the important opportunities for expanding trade with Bangladesh and beyond. We see some interesting opportunities opening up there," the official said.
Ms Clinton wants to talk about regional ties with Ms Banerjee; the official said, appreciating the improvement in ties between India and Bangladesh after Sheikh Hasina became the Prime Minister of the country.
In her meeting, Ms Clinton would like to hear from Ms Banerjee "her version of how things are going", the official said, adding that West Bengal is the one state which stands to benefit from the improvement in India-Bangladesh ties.
PTI