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Feb. 5-8, 2009: India’s Vice President Hamid Ansari, accompanied by Minister of State for Defense Pallam Raju, three members of Parliament and a large business delegation, visits Burma/Myanmar at the invitation of Vice Senior General H.E. Maung Aye. March 28, 2009: Iran’s Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili visits India at the invitation of National Security Advisor M K Narayanan. April 11-12, 2009: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh attends the 7th India-ASEAN summit in Thailand and the 4th East Asia Summit (EAS). April 8, 2009: US Special Envoy Richard Holbrooke and Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff, visit India. June 10-13, 2009: US Under Secretary of State William Burns visits India to prepare for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s July visit and meets Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon and External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna. June 16, 2009: The first summit of the so-called BRIC group – Brazil, Russia, India, and China – is held in Moscow. June 23, 2009: Republic of Korea Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Yu Myung-hwan, visits India and holds talks with External Affairs Minister Krishna and meets Prime Minister Singh. June 25, 2009: US National Security Advisor James Jones meets Indian counterpart M.K. Narayanan in New Delhi. July 3-4, 2009: Minister of External Affairs Krishna visits Japan for the third annual Strategic Dialogue of the Foreign Ministers of India and Japan. July 21-23, 2009: External Affairs Minister Krishna visits Phuket, Thailand to attend India–ASEAN, East Asia Summit (EAS) and ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Ministerial Meetings. July 19-20, 2009: Secretary of State Clinton visits India at which a new “India-U.S. Strategic Dialogue” is launched to consider a gamut of issues. July 2009: Papua New Guinea’s Foreign Affairs, Trade and Immigration Minister Samuel Abal visits India to urge Indian investment in developing the country’s energy resources. Aug. 6-10, 2009: External Affairs Minister Krishna visits Australia to participate in the Annual Post Forum Dialogue meeting of the Pacific Island Forum (PIF) and have bilateral interaction with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Foreign Minister Stephen Smith. India-US and India-East Asia Relations 142 January 2010 Aug. 7, 2009: India and ROK sign a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement during Minister for Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma’s visit to Seoul. Aug. 7-8, 2009: India and China, represented by National Security Adviser M.K.Narayanan and State Councilor Dai Bingguo, hold the 13th round of the talks between the special representatives on the border dispute and agree to set up a hotline between the two countries. Aug 13, 2009: An India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in goods is signed in Bangkok. Sept. 13-16, 2009: President of Mongolia Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj makes a state visit to India at the invitation of Indian President Pratibha Patil. The two countries issue a Joint Declaration on the Comprehensive Partnership between India and Mongolia. Sept. 25, 2009: Minister of External Affairs Krishna meets Secretary of State Clinton on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meetings in New York. Oct. 6, 2009: India designates sites in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh states for construction of US nuclear reactors in India. Sites are also allocated to Russia and France. Oct. 7, 2009: Thai Deputy Prime Minister Korbak Sabhavasu visits India and announces that the India-Thailand Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is set to expand into a comprehensive agreement to include more services and investments. Oct. 8, 2009: Suicide car bomber attacks India’s embassy in Kabul. This is the second attack in 15 months on the embassy. Oct. 13, 2009: Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Stephen Smith visits India for Framework Dialogue with Minister for External Affairs Krishna. Oct. 15-16, 2009: Under Secretary Burns visits India to assess progress on the new India-US Strategic Dialogue announced during Secretary Clinton’s visit and to discuss substantive issues related to Prime Minister Singh’s November visit to the US. Oct. 24, 2009: Prime Minister Singh and Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao meet on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit to discuss recent tensions between the two countries over their unresolved border dispute. Oct. 25, 2009: The heads of state/government of the ASEAN member states, Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand meet in Thailand for the fourth East Asia Summit and reiterate commitment through joint press statement to revive the Nalanda University (“a great ancient centre of intellectual activity in Buddhist philosophy, mathematics, medicine and other disciplines”) located in the State of Bihar in India. Oct. 27, 2009: The foreign ministers of India, Russia, and China hold their Ninth Trilateral Meeting in Bengaluru (Bangalore) and issue a joint communiqué. India-US and India-East Asia Relations 143 January 2010 India-US and India-East Asia Relations 144 January 2010 Nov. 12, 2009: Australian Prime Minister Rudd visits India. Nov. 16-17, 2009: Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki visits India for bilateral discussions at the invitation of External Affairs Minister Krishna. Nov. 12-13, 2009: US Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and Nonproliferation Ellen Tauscher visits India for talks with Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao. They reaffirm a commitment to the timely and full implementation of the US-India civil nuclear agreement. Nov. 24-25, 2009: Prime Minister Singh makes a state visit to the US. Nov. 26-27, 2009: At the IAEA Board of Governors meeting, India votes in favor of a resolution on the issue of implementation of safeguards in Iran which the Board adopted on Nov. 27. Dec. 2009: Before the Copenhagen conference India announces that it will undertake to reduce the intensity of its carbon emissions. Dec. 27-30, 2009: Japanese Prime Minister Hatoyama Yukio and a high-level delegation visits India to strengthening economic and security cooperation. He meets Prime Minister Singh and Sonia Gandhi, chief of the ruling Congress Party.