Biden to visit Pak, not India

Updated on: 07 January,2009 04:52 PM IST |
PTI |

Vice President-elect Joseph Biden would be travelling to Southwest Asia, including to Pakistan, on a fact-finding mission this week leading a bipartisan Congressional delegation, but may not visit India.

"This will be my God-knows-how-many trips, I guess my 10th or 11th trip into Iraq and I don't know how many times in Afghanistan and Pakistan," Biden was quoted as saying by Politico, which is known for its extensive coverage of US Congress.

The details of his visit were being kept under wraps by his office for security reasons. Politico said Biden revealed the key stops of his upcoming foreign trip without even being asked.

Biden would be leading the Congressional delegation in the capacity as the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, just days before he takes office alongside Barack Obama on January 20.

He would be accompanied by Senator John Kerry, the former Democratic Presidential candidate and the incoming Chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

For security reasons, details of the trip and the countries to be visited were kept secret until now, with estimates suggesting countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan or India and parts of the Middle East.

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