Shanghai, May 31 (IANS) Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, who was part of President Pratibha Patil’s delegation visiting China, left for Washington Monday to join the high-level Indian team for the first India-US strategic dialogue.

Rao, who is to catch a flight to Washington from the Chinese capital Beijing, left Shanghai as the president ended her six-day China visit Monday.

Patil will be reaching Delhi early evening.

The June 2-3 strategic dialogue between Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will cover the gamut of bilateral, regional and global issues.

Krishna will be joined by Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Minister of State for Science and Technology Prithviraj Chavan, Nirupama Rao and other top officials.