Live: Snooping not acceptable, Sushma Swaraj tells Kerry in meet

8.00 pm: Support Palestinians, but Israel good friend, says Sushma Swaraj

When asked about Gaza, Sushma Swaraj said while India was fully in support of the cause of the Palestinians, “Israel at the same time remains a close friend of India”.

To which Kerry said, “India has been a responsible steward of nuclear power. There has been ups and downs in our relationships. But this is the right monent to make a new beginning.”

7.54 pm: Raised snooping row in meet with Kerry, says Sushma Swaraj

Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj today said that she did raised the snooping issue. “I did raise the snooping issue with Kerry. I told him that people in India were angry. I told him that since we are friendly nations it is not acceptable to us,” she said.

To which Kerry replied, “We do not discuss intelligence matters in public. We value our relationship with India. Obama has undertaken a unique and unprecedented review of our intelligence. We fully respect and understand the issue raised by the minister Swaraj.”

7.50 pm: We support ‘sab ka saath, sab ka vikas’ policy eagerly, says Kerry

Kerry reiterated the Obama government’s stand on Modi’s ‘sab ka saath, sab ka vikaas’ policy saying the US government’s policies were almost the same.

“Sab ka saath sab ka vikas is a policy that we support very eargerly. It is not unlike Mr Obama’s policy,” Kerry said.

However he said, “We have a lot of home work to do, that is what I have concluded after this meeting… American companies lead in sectors that India wants to grow in. We need to break down barriers in trade.”

7.40 pm: Kerry, Sushma Swaraj hold joint press conference

Sushma Swaraj, in a joint press conference with John Kerry said, “we appreciate committment to partnership and substantial contribution made by the US.”

In turn Kerry too thanks Swaraj saying she extended a very big welcome to him.

3.45 pm: Death of civilians in Gaza a real tragedy, says John Kerry

While John Kerry called the Gaza-Israel conflict a terrible situation, he said that no country can sit quietly while a terrorist organisation like Hamas continues to infiltrate.

Kerry told NTDV, “What worries me is that an organisation that has been firing rockets. No country can sit there and watch tunnels being dug and people infiltrating. No country can tolerate that.”

“It’s horrible. There is no one in Israel who doesn’t hate war. Hamas is purposely putting children in the line of fire. The death of civilians in Gaza a real tragedy” he said.

“What we are trying to do is stop the violence,” he told NDTV.

3.40 pm: Obama most open, accountable, says John Kerry on snooping

When asked about the United States snooping row, John Kerry said that Obama has been more open and accountable than any other president.

“Obama has taken extraordinary steps to be open and accountable. We are going to continue to have the best security relationship with India,” Kerry said.

3.35 pm: Obama govt didn’t deny visa to Modi, he is welcome in US, says Kerry

John Kerry today in an interview to NDTV said that though it wasn’t the Obama government that refused a visa to Modi and this US government welcomes him.

“It wasn’t us who did not give visa to Modi. We will welcome PM Modi. Of course he will get a visa, no questions on that. We are going forward, I don’t believe in looking backwards in politics,” Kerry said.

14:00 hours: Kerry at IIT: “Very exciting, very exciting, fantastic”

US Secretary of State John Kerry visited the Indian Institute of Technology - Delhi on Thursday , where he interacted with students in the Applied Microbiology and Bio-process laboratories.

PTI reported that IIT Delhi director RK Shevgaonkar said the American Embassy had been quite precise about which laboratories Kerry wanted to visit.

Kerry asked students about the processes involved, the education fees, the patent system and also if they would get a job in India or if would they have to travel out of the country for employment.

Kerry was reportedly very pleased to see a research project on bio-degradable plastic.

“Very exciting. It would be a huge contribution to the world. Very exciting. Fantastic,” Kerry said.

July 31, 13:00 hours: Kerry meets Jaitley

US Secretary of State John Kerry, in New Delhi for the fifth India-US Strategic Dialogue, met Union Minister for Finance Arun Jaitley some time ago.

The meeting is seen as a very significant one given that the major thrust of the visit by Kerry and US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzer is on re-energising business opportunities between the two nations.

It is also significant as Pritzer has concurred with other US officials’ view that India’s intransigence at the WTO on the issue of public stockholding of food for food security porgrammes has been “disappointing”. The Indian stand has riled the West as the Trade Facilitation Agreement at the WTO is at stake.

Kerry arrived in New Delhi on Wednesday to narrow the differences on various issues ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US in September

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Updates for July 30 end

7.39 am: John Kerry quotes ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ ahead of India trip

US Secretary of state John Kerry, who lands in New Delhi today to co-chair the fifth India-US Strategic Dialogue on July 31 with his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj, has done some PR for his trip ahead of his arrival.

“The new Indian government plans ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ – together we all development for all – is a vision that we want to support,” the Secretary of State said this in his address on ‘The United States and India: A Shared Vision for 2020 and Beyond’ at the Center for American Progress (CAP), a major US think-tank.

“We believe this to be a great vision,” Kerry said. He added that it was time to adopt Mr Modi’s vision of development.

Kerry will be accompanied by the US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, as well as other members of the inter-agency, including Department of Energy, Department of Homeland Security and NASA. The trip will mark the first US cabinet-level visit to New Delhi since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took over office.

Noting that India-US ties are yet to “blossom”, Kerry said, “This is a potentially transformative moment in our relationship with India.”