New Delhi: US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage had a 40-minute meeting on May 10 with Congress president Sonia Gandhi and discussed wide-ranging regional, bilateral and international issues, including the Indo-Pakistan ties and the situation in Afghanistan.

Congress spokesman S Jaipal Reddy described their meeting as "useful, informative and pleasant."

Gandhi told Armitage that there was a broad consensus among various political parties on India's foreign policy and the Indo-Pakistan ties, Reddy said.

Armitage was accompanied by Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca and the US Ambassador in India Robert Blackwill.

Gandhi was assisted by the chairman of the Foreign Affairs department of All India Congress Committee (AICC) K Natwar Singh.

PTI