Blake, Burns to visit India to prepare for Obama's visit

Washington, Oct 18 (PTI) The US will send two of its
top diplomats to New Delhi this week to prepare for President
Barack Obama's maiden visit in November, a sojourn billed as a
defining moment in bilateral ties.
Less than three weeks ahead of Obama's visit, Under
Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns and the
Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia,
Robert Blake, are scheduled to be in New Delhi later this week
to hold wide range of talks with top Indian officials on
issues related to Presidential visit.
They would be travelling to New Delhi to give final
shape to the agenda of the Obama's India sojourn in the first
week of November.
While the dates of the trip has not been announced
yet, Obama is expected to be in India from November 5 to 9;
thus making it his longest overseas stay in a country as
President of the United States.
Accompanied by the First Lady, Michelle Obama, this
would be his first ever visit to India.
The Burns-Blake visit, officials said is likely to be
the last major top level visit of US officials to India before
the Obama visit, sources said.
However, officials did not rule out the possibility of
the trips by other US officials before the trip, which they
said is still more than a fortnight away.
Burns-Blake visit comes as a quick follow up to the
series of Cabinet-level visits from Indian to US in the last
one month including Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee,
Defence Minister A K Antony, and Foreign Minister S M Krishna
– all of whom met the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.
The National Security Advisor, Shivshankar Menon, and
the Foreign Secretary, Nirupama Rao, were also in Washington
this month as part of the preparatory talks with their
American counterparts.
Informed sources said officials of the two countries
during the Burns-Blake visit would zero in on the actual
deliverables for the Obama trip.
Last week, the Assistant Secretary of State for South
and Central Asia, Robert Blake, said that Obama is preparing
for a landmark visit to India in November.