Obama`s India trip to be his longest stay as President

Lalit K Jha
Washington, Oct 16 (PTI) Barack Obama's trip to India
next month would be his longest stay overseas in a country as
US President, which reflects the importance he attaches to
building strategic relationship between the two largest
democratic countries of the world.
Obama is expected to travel to India in the first half of
November, the schedule of which has not been announced yet.
Inkling the length of his stay in India came from
Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia,
Robert Blake in his address to the Baltimore Council on
Foreign Affairs.
Obama's India visit "will mark his longest stay anywhere
outside the US" Blake said in his speech to the
Baltimore-based think tank.
Informed sources in the Administration said that India's
financial capital Mumbai is likely to be the first stop of the
US President, wherein he is expected to address a business
summit of American and Indian corporate leaders besides
attending events commemorating 26/11 on November 6.
Obama is most likely to travel to Amritsar, in the
northern Indian state of Punjab, and visit the sacred Golden
Temple on November 7 for a day trip and reach New Delhi the
same night.
His official meetings with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh, are believed to have been scheduled for November 8.
"I don't want to scoop the President, and since we're
still in the planning stages for a large number of big-ticket
items, I don't want to jump the gun," Blake said.
"But I can give you the broad outline of how we envision
the visit will frame the strong US -India partnership, and how
specifically this holds great benefits for Americans," he said
in his speech. PTI