Hillary Clinton last visited the South Asian region in late May when she flew into Pakistan and urged Islamabad to take decisive steps to defeat Al-Qaeda after relations between the wary allies went into freefall following the US commando raid that killed Osama bin Laden on May 2. - Photo by AP

NEW DELHI: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is to visit India this month for strategic talks with Indian leaders, a spokesman for the Indian foreign ministry said on Friday.

Clinton will be the senior-most US official to visit India since a state visit by US President Barack Obama last November.

The US secretary of state will be travelling to New Delhi to attend the second India-US Strategic Dialogue on July 19 after she presided over the first such meeting between the world's two largest democracies last year.

“We are working on a programme” for Clinton's visit, foreign ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash told AFP.

Prakash did not elaborate on the subjects to be addressed during Clinton's visit but regional security was expected to be high on the agenda.

India has long accused neighbouring Pakistan of harbouring militant groups and analysts say it is becoming increasingly concerned that growing unrest in Pakistan could compromise the safety of the country's nuclear arsenal.

US plans to start cutting troop numbers in Afghanistan from July, with all foreign soldiers due out by the end of 2014, were also expected to be discussed.

India fears that Afghanistan could come under control of a Taliban-influenced government friendly to Pakistan in the wake of the departure of western troops.

Security cooperation, commercial and other ties between India and the United States have improved rapidly in the past decade after being characterised by mistrust and occasional hostility during the Cold War.

Clinton last visited the South Asian region in late May when she flew into Pakistan and urged Islamabad to take decisive steps to defeat Al-Qaeda after relations between the wary allies went into freefall following the US commando raid that killed Osama bin Laden on May 2.

US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano visited India at the same time as Clinton made her trip to Pakistan in a move to strengthen anti-terror information-sharing between India and the United States.

Clinton's Indian visit will be preceded by a meeting next week in New Delhi of the India-US High Technology Cooperation Group which seeks to promote the use of advanced technologies, an Indian foreign ministry statement said.