U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton left here on Thursday for an eight-nation tour, including
what the State Department called a "groundbreaking" visit to Laos,
the first by a U.S. state secretary in 57 years.
While in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, on July 11, the top U.
S. diplomat will meet with Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong and
other senior government officials to discuss a variety of bilateral
and regional issues, including the Lower Mekong Initiative and ASEAN
integration efforts, the State Department said in a statement.
The initiative was launched in July 2009 by Clinton and the
foreign ministers of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, with a
view to promoting the development of the Lower Mekong countries in
education, environment, health and infrastructure.
Washington noted the addition of Myanmar to the program late last
month, when the United States and Laos held their fourth
Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue in the U.S. capital.
Diplomatic relations were never severed between the United States
and Laos, but U.S. involvement in the Laotian civil war and other
incidents had strained bilateral ties over the years. Accounting for
Americans missing in Laos from the Vietnam War has been a special
focus of the relationship.
The current tour will also take Clinton to France, Japan,
Mongolia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Egypt and Israel.
During her stay in Paris on Friday, the secretary will attend the
third meeting of the Friends of Syria, the State Department said.
"As part of her ongoing consultations with senior Palestinian and
Israeli leaders, the secretary will also meet with Palestinian
Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss both parties' efforts
to pursue a dialogue and build on President Abbas' exchange of
letters with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu," it added.
In Tokyo, Clinton will join others for a conference on Afghan
economy on Sunday, an event dedicated to supporting Afghanistan's
development needs for the "transformation decade" beginning in 2015.
Most foreign combat troops are expected to leave the war- torn
country by 2014.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has expressed hope that the meeting
would pledge 4 billion U.S. dollars a year in aid to his country.
Clinton's visit to Egypt came after Mohamed Morsi from the Muslim
Brotherhood was sworn in as the new president late last month, and
she will voice support for the country's democratic transition and
economic development, the State Department said.
While in Israel on July 16-17, Clinton will discuss with the
Israeli leadership peace efforts as well as "a range of regional and
bilateral issues of mutual concern," said the department.
