US senator John McCain Wednesday met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and discussed ways to boost the bilateral relationship, as well as the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

 The meeting came on a day India summoned a top US diplomat to convey its serious concern over reports that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was among the parties which the US' National Security Agency was authorised to spy upon.

 

 A scheduled media interaction with McCain outside the external affairs ministry did not take place. External affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said McCain and Sushma Swaraj discussed ways to take forward the bilateral relationship.

 

 "They discussed the situation in Afghanistan as well as in Iraq," he said.

 

 Iraq has been witnessing its worst security condition as Sunni insurgents, spearheaded by Al Qaeda splinter group Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), launched an offensive that led to the debacle of Iraqi security forces and the fall of a large part of the country's northern and western territories.

 

 ISIS has vowed war against several countries, including India.

 

 India has said it was seeking assistance from various countries as well as international humanitarian organisations to seek safe release of its nationals in captivity in the Iraqi town of Mosul.  McCain began his two-day visit to India Wednesday in the first of a series of visits from the US to boost bilateral relations after a new government took over in New Delhi.

 

 US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns and US Secretary of State John Kerry are also expected to visit India this month.