Clinton to visit India, Thailand July 17-23

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, her right arm in a sling following a recent fall, speaks to the media during her meeting with Salam Fayyad (not pictured), Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority, at the State Department in Washington, July 1, 2009.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will travel to Asia July 17-23, visiting India to try to deepen U.S.-Indian ties and then Thailand for a regional conference, the State Department said on Tuesday.

State Department spokesman Ian Kelly ruled out the possibility of Clinton making any side trips to Afghanistan or Pakistan, where U.S. forces and allies are battling the Taliban and al Qaeda.

Clinton, who said last month U.S.-India ties were "past due for an upgrade", is set to arrive in Mumbai on July 17 where Kelly said she would meet a cross section of Indian society and remember the victims of last November's attacks on the country's financial capital.

Clinton will then travel to New Delhi on July 19 to meet government leaders, opposition politicians, scientists and youth, before going on to Thailand where she is set to attend a regional meeting of Southeast Asian nations, Kelly said.

North Korea, which is at loggerheads with the United States and others over its nuclear program, is expected to be a key topic during the meeting of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), held in Thailand's Phuket resort.

North Korea has in recent months raised tensions in Asia through missile launches and a nuclear test on May 25 which was met by UN sanctions aimed at cutting off its arms trade.

(Editing by Sandra Maler)