Obama could visit India in August or October: PM

Ajay Kaul
On Board PM's Special Aircraft, Apr 17 (PTI) US President
Barack Obama is expected to undertake his first state visit to
India in August or October, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh said on Saturday.
Returning from his two-nation tour of the US and Brazil
during which he met Obama, Singh said these two months were
being looked at for finalisation of dates for the significant
visit.
However, the exact dates have not been finalised yet,
he said.
During his meeting with Obama in Washington on Sunday
last, Singh had told him that India was eagerly looking
forward to his visit.
"We are greatly looking forward to this visit," Singh
had told Obama.
The Prime Minister told Obama that he had "caught the
imagination of millions around the world, including the people
of India who were anxious to see him soon in our country."
Replying to questions later, he had disagreed he shared
better rapport with Bush than with Obama.
"I have a very good relationship with President Obama.
So, I think there should no confusion on that point," he had
said emphatically.
On whether his rapport with Obama was translating into
action on the ground, Singh had said that no one should "jump
to conclusions prematurely" as it related to "statecraft".
The Prime Minister said India and the US have a
multi-faceted relationship. While the economic content of the
relationship was important, there are several other dimensions
with the two countries working together in many regional
fora and many multilateral fora.
"The US is the super power, (it) is a very important
player in the global affairs and we look forward to working
with the US to find practical pragmatic solutions to the
problems which the world face," Singh had said. PTI AKK
MYR