Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Philip J. 'P.J.' Crowley Holds State Department Regular News Briefing

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Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Philip J. 'P.J.' Crowley Holds State Department Regular News Briefing

STATE DEPARTMENT REGULAR NEWS BRIEFING

JUNE 2, 2010

SPEAKER: PHILIP J. "P.J." CROWLEY, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS

[*] CROWLEY: Good afternoon. Welcome to the Department of State. Several things to talk about before taking your questions. In about an hour's time, the secretary will meet with Indian Education Minister Kapil Sibal, as we begin to get into -- engaged in the India-U.S. strategic dialogue. And they'll discuss U.S.-Indian cooperation in higher education and increasing our people-to-people ties. Education is a key component of our partnership with India, a key to meeting the demands of the 21st century economy.

Also, Undersecretary Bill Burns met with Foreign Secretary Rao as part of our broader discussion of U.S. foreign policy. But we have the Indian officials now arriving. And, of course, tomorrow will be a significant day, as we have intensive, wide-ranging discussions with a broad range of cabinet officials and a large Indian delegation.

Also today, the secretary a while ago met with 17 civil society activists from the Middle East and North Africa. The leaders of Democracy Fellows -- this is a program under our Middle East Partnership Initiative, or our MEPI. It's a three-month program that the U.S. provides to young civic and democratic reform leaders from the region. They have an opportunity to complete academic course work at the Maxwell School at Syracuse University and complete a professional assignment with a political, nongovernmental, or public policy organization here in Washington.

And this year's cohort is a diverse group representing Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Syria, Tunisia, the West Bank and Gaza, and Yemen...

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