WASHINGTON: Afghanistan will certainly be a topic of discussion when US President Barack Obama meets Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House later this month, says the State Department.

Prime Minister Modi is coming to Washington on Sept. 29 on a two-day official visit.

“We certainly are welcoming the prime minister to Washington, have a full agenda … we will touch on a number of … topics … including … Afghanistan, which obviously is important to a lot of people, (and) to the Indians,” US State Department’s deputy spokesperson Marie Harf told a news briefing in Washington.

“I think that’ll certainly be a topic of conversation,” she added.

In 2005, the Bush administration had told Mr Modi that he would be refused a US visa because of his alleged role in the anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat.

But soon after his election as India’s prime minister earlier this year, the Obama administration invited him to visit the White House as an official guest.

The current US government sees India as a key strategic partner in Asia and has also welcomed India’s “positive” role in Afghanistan.

Ms Harf said that while in Washington, Mr Modi would have a number of meetings with key US official. “This is a broad relationship we have with India in a whole host of areas: certainly security — I’m sure we’ll talk a lot about security issues,” she said.

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2014