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In a show of goodwill, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will pay a visit to American President Barack Obama at the White House on the 24th of November.
The occasion marks the first state visit of the new American president’s presidency and the announcement was made on the 1st of October (Thursday). On the same evening of the visit President Obama and his wife Michelle will host an official state dinner for Prime Minister Singh and his wife Gurshan Kaur.
“This visit will be the first state visit of the administration and will highlight the strong and growing strategic partnership between the United States and India, and the friendship between American and Indian people,” said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.
“During the visit, the two leaders are expected to discuss a range of global, regional, and bilateral issues of shared interest and common concern,” Gibbs said. “The two leaders will also likely discuss the strategic dialogue that was launched in July and review progress made in the dialogue.”
“President Obama looks forward to welcoming Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Washington and working with him to strengthen and enhance their partnership for the benefit of the people of both nations, and the world,” he added.
The state-visit invitation from the American President was personally handed over to the Prime Minister by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her July trip to India. The visit will include an elaborate arrival ceremony on the White House South Lawn, a meeting with the President of America and a state dinner in the evening.
In the year 2005, during the last such meeting between the then President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the seeds of the India-US nuclear deal had been sown.
This time the meeting will involve talks regarding the extremist situation in the neighbouring country of Pakistan and its troubled border contiguous with Afghanistan. Obama may hope to secure from India joint military and strategic cooperation on this front.
However, the Obama administration has reassured India that it would go forward with the nuclear deal, signaling an end to the 30 year halt to civilian nuclear trade between the two countries.
