Deputy Secretary Armitage's Travel to Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, China and Japan

Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage traveled to Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, China, and Japan for meetings with senior officials in each country.

The Deputy Secretary visited Colombo on August 22, following the Sri Lankan Prime Minister’s visit to Washington in July. The Deputy Secretary then traveled to New Delhi August 23 and Islamabad August 24, where he built upon his June visits to those cities and review the steps India and Pakistan have taken since that time to further de-escalate tensions. He followed up on the Secretary's visit to South Asia last month, discussing initiatives to expand U.S. bilateral relations with both countries.

The Deputy Secretary was in Beijing August 25-27. During this visit, he consulted with senior Chinese officials on a variety of bilateral and regional issues, including preparations for the October visit to the United States of PRC President Jiang Zemin.

The Deputy Secretary then visited Tokyo Aug. 27-28 and met with Ministry of Foreign Affairs Administrative Vice-Minister Yukio Takeuchi to conduct Strategic Dialogue talks that were agreed upon by President Bush and Prime Minister Koizumi during the June 2001 summit in Washington. The Deputy Secretary also met with a number of other senior Japanese officials during his stay in Tokyo.

Remarks
08/28/02  Press Conference; U.S. Embassy Auditorium; Tokyo, Japan
08/27/02  Stand-Up with Fuji-TV's Osamu Sorimachi following Meeting with Diet Members; U.S. Embassy Tokyo; Tokyo, Japan
08/26/02  Press Conference - Conclusion of China Visit; Beijing, China
08/24/02  Remarks to the Press; Islamabad, Pakistan
08/22/02  Statement upon arrival in Sri Lanka; Colombo, Sri Lanka